SAN JOSE, Nov. 1 -- Global semiconductor sales rose to $18.4 billion in September, a sequential increase of 1%, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today. Sales of PCs and cellphones appear to be stronger than expected and are boosting sales of microprocessors, DSP, flash memory devices and DRAMs.

Worldwide chip sales for the third quarter were $55.2 billion, up 3.2% from the second quarter and 27.4% from last year. Worldwide sales were up 33.2% for the first nine months.

"Despite evidence of an ongoing inventory correction in some segments of the industry, the September sales figures reflect continuing growth in demand for semiconductors," said SIA president George Scalise. "September is traditionally one of most consistently strong months for microchip sales as manufacturers of electronics products gear up for the holiday season.

"Slower growth or declining sales in a few market segments are signs of a continuing inventory correction by both semiconductor producers and customers. The ongoing inventory correction in these segments was the major factor in the September growth rate coming in near the low end of the historic range," Scalise said.

Chip sales in Europe and Asia were up 4.1% and 1.6%, respectively, while sales in the Americas and Japan declined 1.7% and 0.5%, respectively.