June 01, 2010 April chip sales up 50.4% year over year The Business Review (Albany)
Worldwide semiconductor sales in April were $23.6 billion, a 50.4 percent boost from a year ago when sales were $15.7 billion, according to a report Tuesday by the Semiconductor Industry Association.
The San Jose, Calif.-based SIA said sales for the first four months of 2010 were $92.6 billion compared to $60.1 billion for the like period of 2009, an increase of 54.2 percent.
All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.
Global sales of semiconductors grew at a healthy rate in April, surpassing the previous monthly record level of November 2007, said SIA President George Scalise. As expected, both the year-on-year and sequential growth rates moderated slightly. The unusually high year-on-year comparison is a reflection of the trough of the recession in early 2009 compared to strong demand today."
Scalise attributed growth to worldwide adoption of 3G wireless communications and consequent investment in infrastructure and recovery of demand from the enterprise, automotive, and industrial sectors.
Going forward, we expect semiconductor sales will return to historical seasonal patterns. Future growth of the industry remains heavily dependent on the continued global economic recovery, and in particular, on continued growth in the developing markets that are the largest demand drivers for our products, Scalise said.
The news comes the same day GlobalFoundries, a Sunnyvale, Calif., based computer chip maker announced plans to expand its plants in Saratoga County and Dresden, Germany. GlobalFoundries is co-owned by chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) and the Abu Dhabi government.
