Worldwide semiconductor sales up 5.5% for August

Source Portland Business Journal

Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew by 5.5 percent to $22.7 billion in August from $21.5 billion in the same month last year, according to a report released Thursday.

The San Jose-based trade group Semiconductor Industry Association said sales also grew by 2.4 percent from July's total of $22.2 billion.Year-to-date sales through August were $170.2 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent from the same period of 2007 when sales were $162.9 billion.

“Global sales of semiconductors remained strong in August,” said SIA President George Scalise. “Sales of personal computers and cellular handsets continued to be the principal drivers of demand. Continuing price pressure on DRAMs and NAND flash memory dampened overall industry growth. Excluding memory products, industry sales were up by 11.4 percent year-on-year in August. Year-to-date sales were 4.5 percent ahead of last year and remain in line with the SIA mid-year forecast of 4.3 percent growth in 2008.”

According to a recent Credit Suisse report, PC unit sales are projected to grow by more than 13 percent in 2008. Unit sales grew by 9.1 percent year-over-year in August, a modest slowdown from July.

Worldwide unit sales of cellular handsets remained strong, especially in emerging markets. Unit sales of cellular handsets are forecast to grow about ten percent in 2008, with the strongest growth coming from emerging markets.