“For the first time in 2009, worldwide semiconductor sales in November were in positive territory compared to one year ago,” said SIA president George Scalise. “2009 ended with sales of many IT and consumer products faring better than earlier projections. Sales of personal computers continue to strengthen in line with recent projections and appear to signal the beginning of recovery of demand from the business sector. The release of the Windows 7 operating system in October has been a positive factor. Unit sales of handsets should come in roughly even with 2008 levels. In the consumer space, there have been a few bright spots including LCD TVs, which saw an increase of 25-30% in units in 2009. 

 

November was the ninth straight month that chip sales rose. Sales increased sequentially in all geographic regions, SIA said.