Jan. 2, 2008 – Worldwide chip sales slowed in November to just a fraction of a percent vs. October, and are on pace for roughly 3% growth for all of 2007, below the Semiconductor Industry Association’s (SIA) projections of 3.8% barely a month ago.
November chip sales totaled about $23.1B, up 0.7% month-on-month and 2.3% Y-Y, according to the SIA’s latest monthly data — about half the growth rates seen in a strong October (2.1% M-M, 4.3% Y-Y), and the slowest growth since June-July. Calculated on a 3-month rolling average, chip sales for the year through November were about 3.3% ahead of the same pace a year ago; based on the actual chip sales data, they’re about 2.8% ahead.
In a statement, SIA president George Scalise said early indications show good holiday sales of end consumer devices such as LCD TVs, PMP and MP3 players, and digital cameras, with all these products riding a recent wave of “very healthy unit sales increases.” Cell phone unit sales, for example, will have increased >20% for the fifth consecutive year, he said. PC unit sales exceeded 10% in 2007, and strong PC unit demand contributed to a 2.6% M-M increase in microprocessor unit shipments, and a 3.2% increase in ASPs. (Micro sales rose 5.8% M-M and 7.4% Y-Y.)
As was the case for most of 2007, though, pricing problems in the memory sector offset good news on the unit sales & shipments front. DRAM bit shipments rose by 25% according to a three-month average through mid-December, but ASPs declined by 20% during the same period, Scalise noted.
One of the biggest looming macroeconomic clouds — the subprime lending debacle — appears to have had little impact on the semiconductor industry, at least on consumers’ holiday shopping plans, Scalise noted. Still, he admitted, “it will take very strong sales in December to meet our forecast of 3.8% growth in 2007.”
Worldwide semiconductor sales*, November 2007
(US $B)
Market……..Current month……..vs. prior month (%)…………….vs. year-ago (%)
Americas…………….3.81……………………3.83 (-0.5%)……………………3.97 (-3.9%)
Europe………………..3.67……………………3.59 (2.2%)…………………..3.68 (-0.3%)
Japan………………….4.38……………………4.35 (0.6%)……………………4.10 (6.9%)
Asia Pacific………..11.21…………………..11.14 (0.6%)…………………10.79 (3.8%)
TOTAL……………….23.07………………….22.92 (0.7%)…………………22.55 (2.3%)
Market…………….Sept/Oct/Nov…………vs. Jun/July/Aug (%)
Americas……………………3.81……………………3.55 (7.6%)
Europe……………………….3.67……………………3.35 (9.6%)
Japan…………………………4.38……………………4.08 (7.3%)
Asia Pacific……………….11.21…………………..10.40 (7.8%)
TOTAL……………………..23.07………………….21.38 (7.9%)
* Based on three-month average
Source: SIA