DECEMBER 10--Worldwide semiconductor sales rose to $10.43 billion in October, a sequential increase of 2.5% from the $10.18 billion logged in September, according to the latest Global Sales Report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA; San Jose, CA; www.sia-online.org). This is the fourth consecutive month that month-to-month sales improved. Semiconductor sales have been on their way to recovery as monthly decreases in sales have diminished as of late. Nonetheless, October is the first month since November 2000 that saw positive sequential growth, the SIA said.
On a year-to-year comparison, sales were down 44.1% from the $18.65 billion logged in October 2000. "The October sales are another indication that the industry is on track to achieve our forecast of 4.7% growth in the fourth quarter," said George Scalise, SIA president. "All geographic markets with the exception of Japan had sales increases in the period, led by the United States, which was up 5.1%. Increases in unit demand for a broad cross section of products are being driven by personal computers, cell phones, and related communication products, along with a variety of consumer devices.
"The worldwide market for semiconductors in 2001 is expected to decline 31% due to excessive inventories and price pressure on a wide range of products. However, recent data indicates inventory is now largely in balance and prices are rebounding in some product categories," he added.
Geographically, the Americas saw the sharpest decline year-over-year, as that segment declined 57.4% to $2.51 billion for October from the $5.9 billion logged for the same period last year. But, the region was up 3.1% sequentially from the $2.44 billion logged in September.
On a yearly basis, Japan fell 46.1% to $2.34 billion from the $4.35 billion logged in October 2000. Sequentially, the region was down 2.6% from the $2.41 billion logged in September. The European region also slid for October from last year, logging $2.2 billion. That figure's a drop of 42% from the $3.79 billion posted during the same period last year. Surprisingly, the region was up 5.1% month-over-month from the $2.09 billion logged in September.
The Asia-Pacific region sales dropped 26.7% year-over-year to $3.37 billion from the $4.6 billion logged in October 2000. October's figure is up 4% from the $3.24 billion logged in September.
