Chip sales hit $20 billion mark globally

Chip sales hit $20 billion mark globally
SAN JOSE, California - The latest Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) report for the month of October shows that sales of semiconductors across the globe hit the $20.05 billion mark. This is a record figure and surpasses the $19.55 billion recorded in September by 2.5 percent.

The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) figures show that the sales at the same time last year were at least 6.75 percent less at $18.78 billion. This shows that the industry is thriving and growth is progressing according to expectations. The group said that the huge demand for consumer electronics means that the industry is poised to see chip sales rise by 6.8 percent this year.

"Strong demand for consumer electronics drove worldwide chip sales over $20 billion in October," said George Scalise, the SIA President. "A sharp rebound in consumer confidence was reflected in strong sales of a broad range of consumer products, such as cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, digital TVs, and personal computers."

However, even with this strong sales, Intel and AMD sales fell marginally in October. It has emerged that Intel was facing a shortage of notebook PC processors in October. But this in no way affected Intel shares which gained 25 cents to $27.43 on NASDAQ.

Scalise said that the demand for semiconductors was growing by the day and that sequential rises were noted across all industry sectors. “Industry sales continue to track with our forecast of 6.8 percent growth to $228 billion in 2005. Inventories are in balance, and production capacity utilization remains in the healthy 90 percent range,” he noted. The SIA has predicted that sales of chips will surpass $309 billion in 2008. This is a phenomenal 45 percent increase over the $213 billion registered in 2004.