WASHINGTON – Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $37.6 billion in April, up 20.2% year-over-year and 1.4% sequentially, says the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

Monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

WSTS projects global market growth of 12.4% in 2018 and 4.4% in 2019. Worldwide sales are expected to be $463.4 billion this year. This would mark the industry’s highest-ever annual sales.

“The global semiconductor industry has posted consistently strong sales so far in 2018, and the global market has now experienced year-to-year growth of greater than 20% for 13 consecutive months,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, SIA. “Although boosted in part by impressive growth in the memory market, sales of non-memory products also grew by double digits in April on a year-to-year basis, and all major regional markets posted double-digit year-to-year gains. The global market is projected to experience significant annual growth this year, with more modest growth expected next year.”

Regionally, year-over-year sales increased in the Americas (34.1%), China (22.1%), Europe (21.4%), Japan (14.6%), and Asia Pacific/All Other (10.2%). Sequentially, sales were up in China (3.2%), Japan (2.7%), Europe (1.4%), and the Americas (0.8%), but down slightly in Asia Pacific/All Other (0.8%).

WSTS projects year-over-year increases across all regional markets for 2018: the Americas (14%), Europe (13.4%), Asia Pacific (including China) (12.3%), and Japan (8.6%).

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