Worldwide semiconductor sales rise slightly in May

Global sales of semiconductor chips reached $11.37 billion in May 2002, a 2.8% increase from the $11.07 billion level of April 2002. Broad-based growth was achieved in all product sectors except for computation, according to the Global Sales Report by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA; San Jose, CA; www.sia-online.org).

"Continued steady growth across the industry is exhibited in May 2002 chip sales and we expect the industry to close the second quarter with growth of 4.7%," says SIA President, George Scalise. "While the computation sector is down, all other sectors, including wireless and consumer, continue to thrive. This
increase drove the sales of such products as Flash, digital signal processors, application specific products, and analog."

The migration of semiconductor customers to contract manufacturing continues in the Asia Pacific market, especially China, a beneficiary. In May 2002, sales to the Asia Pacific region increased 4.8% from April and now represent 37% of the market.