2005 - The Year of The Electron

True Ed.

Worldwide chip sales jump 1.3% in November, says SIA

By Mark LaPedus
Silicon Strategies
12/31/2004, 8:54 PM ET

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew to $19.02 billion in November, an increase of 1.3 percent from $18.8 billion in October, and an increase of 18 percent from the $16.12 billion in the like period a year ago, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported late Thursday (Dec. 31).

The SIA's Global Sales Report (GSR) is a three-month moving average of sales activity. The GSR is tabulated by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization, which represents approximately 66 companies.

The figure from November indicates that the IC market remains at a standstill, due in part to the inventory correction problem in the marketplace. The three-month average of global semiconductor sales notched up a 1.5 percent sequential rise in October, reaching $18.8 billion for the month, according to the SIA (San Jose). That represents a 22 percent increase on the $15.4 billion in sales in October 2003 (see Nov. 26 story).

Sales were up in all geographic regions except the Americas, where revenue declined by 1.6 percent from October. Europe was up 4.2 percent in November, Asia-Pacific rose 1.5 percent, Japan jumped 0.8 percent, according to the figures.

"Worldwide sales of semiconductors surpassed $19 billion in November, led by strong growth in sales of microprocessors, digital signal processors, DRAMs, and flash memory devices," said SIA President George Scalise, in a statement. "Sales of personal computers typically peak in the fourth quarter. Strength in microprocessors and DRAMs indicate PC sales reflect normal seasonal patterns. The wireless handset market has been somewhat stronger than recent forecasts, as evidenced by growth in DSP and flash memory products."

There are other positive signs. "Capacity utilization declined modestly, but remains above 90 percent," Scalise continued. "Actions taken by both customers and semiconductor manufacturers to address excess inventories in some market sectors appear to have been effective. We expect that excess inventories will not be a significant concern by the end of the first quarter of 2005," Scalise concluded.



...Europe up 4.2 percent in November

..."Actions taken by both customers and semiconductor manufacturers to address excess inventories in some market sectors appear to have been effective. We expect that excess inventories will not be a significant concern by the end of the first quarter of 2005," Scalise concluded...

[Europartners, who follow European distribution sector, suggest keeping an eye on the € figures as well, because of possible exchange rate distortions.The € figs should be out soon at www.eeca.org]