SIA: Worldwide Chip Sales Up 5.4% in First Half of 2008
August 11, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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Continuing strength in international markets, coupled with U.S. demand, drove higher worldwide sales of semiconductors in June, according to George Scalise, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
"Key demand drivers for semiconductors - especially personal computers, which account for 40% of semiconductor sales, and mobile phones, which drive about 20% of demand - continued to show double-digit unit growth," Scalise said.
According to Scalise, emerging markets are a major factor in driving worldwide semiconductor sales.
"PC unit sales in emerging markets are expected to grow by 19% - more than double the growth rate in developed markets this year," Scalise said.
Additionally, in 2008:
- Developing countries - with sales of more than 153 million units - will account for half of worldwide PC sales.
- In mobile phones, developing countries are expected to account for 66% of total worldwide unit sales of more than 1.3 billion, up from 61% last year.
"The emergence of large middle-class populations in China, India, Eastern Europe and Latin America has more than offset the effects of slower growth in the U.S. economy," Scalise said.
"We expect that demand for consumer electronic products in these new markets will continue to outpace growth in developed markets for the next several years."
He said inventory for the industry is in balance with minor excess in a few product sectors.
SIA also noted that total semiconductor sales in June, excluding memory products, grew by 12% year on year. Price attrition in memory products contributed to a 6% year-on-year decline in total memory sales despite sharply increased unit sales.
"Advances in semiconductor technology continue to deliver huge benefits to consumers, as semiconductor devices deliver higher performance and increased functionality at lower cost," Scalise said. "At the same time, rapid price declines for microchips tend to mask the real growth of the industry."
Scalise said the cost of 1 Gb of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) declined by 43% during the past year, while the price of 2 Gb of Not And (NAND) flash declined by 61% in the last 12 months.
Lower prices enable increased memory content in consumer devices, he said.
According to Scalise, during the past 10 years, the price of a typical desktop PC declined by nearly two-thirds, while performance and functionality increased by a factor of more than 100.
"The impact of advanced technology on energy efficiency is even more dramatic," Scalise said. "A recent independent study showed that computers have become nearly 3 million percent more energy efficient over the past 30 years."
Source: Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).