NOVEMBER 13--Global semiconductor sales climbed to $36.9 billion in the third quarter, an 8.2% sequential increase from $34.1 billion in revenue reached in this year's second quarter and a 21% rise from the corresponding period of 2001, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA; www.sia-online.org). "The recovery of the semiconductor industry has picked up breadth and strength as the year has progressed," said SIA president George Scalise. "We achieved solid 8.2% revenue growth in the September quarter, following 5.6% sequential growth in the first quarter of 2002 and 5.8% growth in the year's second quarter, with momentum across major product sectors, including wireless, digital consumer products, PCs, and automotive."
The wireless market continued to be the strongest single growth market for chips, with flash, DSP, and wireless ASSPs all up by double digits in the September quarter.
Chips used in consumer products such as video games, DVDs, and digital cameras also rose in the quarter, including 21% growth in Standard Cells and 15% growth in Optoelectronics. Quarterly revenue growth was 4.9% in DRAMs, 4.6% in microprocessors, and 12% in peripherals.
Chip sales rose 8% in the September quarter in the Asia-Pacific market, and 15% in Japan, driven by Japan's exports of consumer products. In Europe, a strong wireless market, chip sales rose 7.9%, while sales in the Americas were up 1.9% in the quarter, another manifestation of outsourcing to the Asia-Pacific region, the SIA said.