Chip sales up 4.5 per cent worldwide

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Worldwide semiconductor sales were up 4.5 per cent in May compared to the month before, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which expects unit sales of personal computers to grow by 20 per cent and sales of mobile phones to grow by 10 to 12 per cent this year.

Chip sales also rose by 47.6 per cent in May 2010 compared to May 2009, a slight decline from the April year-on-year growth rate.

“Global sales of semiconductors in May reached a new high and remain on pace to reach the SIA forecast of 28.4 per cent growth to $290.5 billion in 2010,” said SIA President George Scalise.

He added: “Emerging markets, including China and India, are fueling sales of computation and communications products. The automotive market is also slowly recovering after several years of weak sales. Demand from the corporate information technology and industrial sectors that had pushed out replacement cycles during the global economic recession is beginning to come back.”

The chip industry started rising from a trough and gaining momentum in the second half of 2009. As a result, industry year-on-year growth rates are likely to continue to slow down during the second half of 2010, SIA said.

"Growing concerns about issues such as government debt, declining consumer confidence, and pressures on government spending do not appear to have affected worldwide semiconductor sales to date," Scalise added.

He said that these issues bear watching given the chip industry's growing sensitivity to macroeconomic conditions.

Major chipmakers include Intel, Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices, National Semiconductor, Nvidia, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics, Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor.

(Additional reporting by IT PRO)

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