The slow summer period has not dampened global chip sales according to the latest figures
from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
July sales of semiconductors were $20.6bn (£10.3bn), 3.2 per cent up on June and up 2.2 per cent on the $20.1bn recorded for July 2006. The strongest areas were microprocessors to cater for continued strong PC demand and Nand Flash.
“Major demand drivers for semiconductors ­ PCs, mobile phones and other consumer electronic products ­ appear to be growing in line with analysts’ projections,” explained SIA president George Scalise.
“Prices climbed slightly in several large segments of the semiconductor market, and price erosion in the memory sector slowed significantly in July as unit shipments grew, contributing to a sequential increase in worldwide chip sales.
“Unit sales of microprocessors grew by nearly five per cent from June while average selling prices (ASPs) increased by a bit more than three per cent. ASPs for DRams continued to decline ­ price attrition slowed to less than two per cent from June.”
Nand Flash shipments were essentially flat for July, but the ASPs were up by more than eight per cent, boosting revenues.
The SIA noted that there has been no noticeable downturn in US consumer electronics spending because of the major problems in the sub-prime mortgage arena, however, it warned that this situation could pose problems for the processor market going forward.
In related chip news, Intel is not getting things all its own way in the global rankings. iSuppli has reported in its second-quarter rankings that AMD has made greater gains than previously thought.
AMD gained 2.5 per cent compared to Q1 to take a 13.4 per cent share of overall microprocessor revenue. Intel continues to dominate the revenue market with a massive 78.8 per cent share, but lost two per cent in Q2.
Chip sales on a path to recovery