January 3, 2005 – Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew to $19.02 billion in November, an increase of 1.3% from the $18.8 billion in October, and an increase of 18% from the $16.12 billion in October 2003, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported today.

“Worldwide sales of semiconductors surpassed $19 billion in November, led by strong growth in sales of microprocessors, digital signal processors, DRAMs, and flash memory devices,” said SIA president George Scalise. “Sales of personal computers typically peak in the fourth quarter. Strength in microprocessors and DRAMs indicate PC sales reflect normal seasonal patterns. The wireless handset market has been somewhat stronger than recent forecasts, as evidenced by growth in DSP and flash memory products.

“Capacity utilization declined modestly, but remains above 90%,” Scalise continued. “Actions taken by both customers and semiconductor manufacturers to address excess inventories in some market sectors appear to have been effective. We expect that excess inventories will not be a significant concern by the end of the first quarter of 2005,” Scalise concluded.

Sales were up in all geographic regions except the Americas, where sales declined by 1.6% from October.

The SIA’s Global Sales Report (GSR) is a three-month moving average of sales activity. The GSR is tabulated by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization, which represents approximately 66 companies. The moving average is a mathematical smoothing technique that mitigates variations due to companies’ financial calendars.