March 29, 2002– San Jose, CA — Worldwide sales of semiconductors were $10.01 billion in February, unchanged from the previous month, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA.)

"Strong consumer spending for mobile phones, DVD’s, and digital cameras continued to move chip sales slightly upward," notes SIA president, George Scalise.

On a month-to-month basis, sales in the Americas and Asia Pacific increased approximately 2.3 percent over January, while sales in Europe and Japan declined 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. Sales by region were as follows: Americas $2.52 billion, Europe $2.10 billion, Japan $1.99 billion and Asia Pacific had the highest sales at $3.41 billion.

"Although business investment has yet to pick up, consumer confidence and inventory replenishing continue to rise, driving the early stages of the overall recovery. Flat to slow growth of semiconductor sales in the first quarter of this year is in line with expectations. Our forecast calls for the second quarter to be slightly stronger with accelerating growth in the second half of 2002," Scalise adds.