July 2, 2007 – After a slight downtick in April, global chip sales moved back into positive growth again in May — but just barely, according to new data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Worldwide semiconductor sales moved back above the $20 billion benchmark to $20.3 billion in May, a scant 1.2% growth vs. April and 2.4% above May 2006 levels.
Microprocessors and NAND flash saw the biggest increases thanks to strength in PC and cell phone end markets, which are on pace for ~10% unit sales but with “dramatically” more memory content, noted SIA president George Scalise, in a statement, citing data from Micron that average DRAM content in PCs will increase more than 50% this year to 1.18GB.
Also enjoying a surge in memory content are cell phones, where embedded NAND flash memory content is expected to explode to >200% CAGR through 2010, Scalise noted.
Better than 5% sales growth for digital signal processors (DSPs) suggests that cell phone inventory issues have been resolved, Scalise added. ASPs here, too, showed some decline (~1%) but were offset by >5% unit sales.
DRAM continues to be a sore spot in the industry, according to SIA data. Sales fell another 8% in May, as slumping ASPs (nearly -14%) undercut a 7% rise in unit shipments during the month.
By region, most areas saw between 1%-2% month-on-month growth, led by the Americas (+2.2%), and only Europe saw a slight decline (-0.5%). Compared with a year ago, though, chip sales in the Americas lags behind other regions (-5.6%), as both Japan and Asia-Pacific were in the mid-4% range, while Europe saw slight growth (1.8%).
Worldwide semiconductor sales, May 2007
(US $B)
Market……..Current month……..vs. prior month (%)…………….vs. year-ago (%)
Americas…………….3.33……………………3.26 (2.2%)……………………3.52 (-5.6%)
Europe………………..3.28……………………3.29 (-0.5%)…………………..3.22 (1.8%)
Japan………………….3.97……………………3.90 (1.8%)……………………3.78 (4.9%)
Asia Pacific…………9.71……………………9.60 (1.2%)……………………9.28 (4.6%)
TOTAL………………20.28………………….20.04 (1.2%)…………………19.81 (2.4%)
Market…………….March/Apr/May…………….Dec/Jan/Feb (%)
Americas……………………3.33……………………3.41 (-2.5%)
Europe……………………….3.28……………………3.34 (-2.0%)
Japan…………………………3.97……………………3.68 (8.0%)
Asia Pacific………………..9.71……………………9.70 (0.1%)
TOTAL……………………..20.28………………….20.13 (0.8%)
Source: SIA