SIA: Tight Supply Chain Mgmt. Helps Boost Global Semiconductor Sales
August 6, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
Worldwide semiconductor sales for the second quarter of 2009 were $51.7 billion, representing a 17% increase from first-quarter 2009 sales of $44.2 billion, according to a report from Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
Despite the quarter-to-quarter jump, however, Q2 2009 sales were off by 20% from the $64.7 billion recorded in Q2 2008.
Focused supply chain management by producers and customers, said SIA President George Scalise, helped moderate the impact of the global economic recession.
"Inventories have been closely managed, encouraging us to believe that the sequential increase in quarterly sales represents a gradual recovery of demand," said Scalise.
SIA also cited economic stimulus programs in China (including consumer product incentives and 3G and Time Division Synchronous CDMA infrastructure investments) as drivers of semiconductor sales in the world's largest chip market.
Worldwide sales in June 2009 were $17.2 billion, an increase of 3.7% from May sales of $16.6 billion, but 20% lower than the $21.6 billion reported for June 2008. Year-to-date sales of $95.9 billion were 25% below the first six months of 2008, when sales were $127.5 billion.
Industry analysts, Scalise pointed out, are more optimistic in forecasts for key demand drivers.
"Consensus estimates for unit sales of PCs are now in the range of minus 5% to flat compared to 2008, whereas earlier forecasts were projecting year-on-year unit declines of 9 to 12%," said Scalise.
"In cell phone handsets, analysts now believe the unit decline will be in the range of 7 to 9% compared to earlier forecasts of a decline of around 15%. PCs and cell phones account for nearly 60% of worldwide semiconductor consumption."
All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average of global semiconductor sales. SIA's figures for its global sales report are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) group.
Source: Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).