Semi Sales Growth Tepid in September
Published: 31 October 2008
by Staff
Year-to-date sales are up 4% to of $196.4 billion. That's 50 basis points lower than the SIA mid-year forecast.
Excluding memory products, September sales grew 7.8% year-on-year. Pricing pressures are having a harsh effect on memory revenues, with flash memory chips down 37.5% year-on-year and DRAMs off 11.1%.
“The rate of semiconductor sales growth slowed in September as the industry began to feel the effects of the turmoil in world financial markets,” said SIA President George Scalise. “We face a near-term period of uncertainty with a steep decline in consumer confidence and caution in the enterprise segment.
"Sales of personal computers and cellphones – the two largest drivers of semiconductor sales – remain strong in these emerging markets, driven by growing consumer populations and rising income levels coupled with more affordable pricing. Economic growth in major developing countries is still high in mid- to high-single digits, albeit below recent peaks.”
"Sales of personal computers and cellphones – the two largest drivers of semiconductor sales – remain strong in these emerging markets, driven by growing consumer populations and rising income levels coupled with more affordable pricing. Economic growth in major developing countries is still high in mid- to high-single digits, albeit below recent peaks.”
Analysts project PC unit sales will grow at least 11.5% this year, with developing countries accounting for nearly half of unit sales. JP Morgan projects 8.7% year-on-year unit growth in cellphone sales, to 1.35 billion in 2008. Again, developing countries are expected to account for nearly 70% of unit sales of cell phones in 2008.
Sales of other consumer electronics including MP3/PMP devices and LCD TVs remained positive through the first nine months of 2008, according to iSuppli. The research firm projects 5% growth for all consumer electronics, with 11% growth for MP3/PMP units and 33% growth in LCD TV units this year. Consumer purchases drive more than half of semiconductor sales.
“Year-to-date chip sales growth of 4% trails the SIA mid-year forecast of 4.5% growth,” said Scalise. “Restoring consumer confidence is key to growing semiconductor sales going forward."
