Feb. 1, 2008 – Global sales of semiconductors took their typical seasonal dip in December following their prior-months ramp-up for the holiday season, and for the full year chip sales managed to squeak out 2.5% growth, according to the latest data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
Global chip sales in December totaled $22.28B, down -3.6% vs. November but up 2.5% from Dec. 2006. For the full year, chip sales rose 3.2% to a record $255.6B.
Familiar major demand drivers in the year were PCs, mobile handsets, and general consumer electronics, noted SIA president George Scalise, in a statement. PC shipments (~40% of all semiconductor consumption) rose 13.8% in 2007, with mobile PC unit sales up by nearly a third (32.2%). Cell phone unit shipments grew ~20% to roughly 1.2B units, according to the SIA, citing data from JP Morgan.
Meanwhile, for electronics products, MP3/PMP player unit sales are still growing at a 20% annual clip, while LCD TV units rose >50% and digital camera units grew by 20%, Scalise stated.
For 2008 JP Morgan projects PC shipments to rise another 12.2%, with 10%-15% growth in cell phone unit shipments.
Also no surprise to anyone is that 2007 was lousy for memory pricing for both DRAMs and NAND flash — without the memory segment, industry sales would have risen 4.5% Y-Y (vs. 2.5% overall). In the DRAM sector, bit shipments nearly doubled in 2007 while ASPs fell ~39%, for a total sales decline of 7.4%, according to the SIA. In NAND, unit shipments increased nearly 46%, but a -13.7% slide in ASPs resulted in just a 26% increase in sales.
Scalise also noted the incredible gains (and cost savings) made possible by increasing semiconductor capabilities — a typical desktop PC in 2007 was >100x faster than a 1997 system but cost only a third as much ($630 vs. $1833).
He also mentioned higher energy costs and the sub-prime mortgage “problem,” but only in terms of 2007 performance, and not their potential impact on 2008, in which the SIA still says its 7.7% growth forecasts as “realistic.”
Worldwide semiconductor sales*, December 2007
(US $B)
Market……..Current month……..vs. prior month (%)…………….vs. year-ago (%)
Americas…………….3.65……………………3.83 (-4.5%)……………………3.80 (-3.9%)
Europe………………..3.53……………………3.68 (-4.0%)…………………3.50 (1.0%)
Japan………………….4.31……………………4.39 (-1/8%)…………………..3.88 (11.1%)
Asia Pacific………..10.79…………………..11.23 (-4.0%)………………..10.57 (2.0%)
TOTAL……………….22.28………………….22.12 (-3.6%)………………..21.74 (2.5%)
Market…………….Oct/Nov/Dec…………vs. July/Aug/Sep (%)
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