The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) yesterday announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $26.34 billion for the month of April 2014, an increase of 11.5 percent from the April 2013 total of $23.62 billion and a slight uptick of 0.7 percent compared to last month’s total of $26.15 billion. Sales in the Americas increased 14.7 percent year-over-year in April, leading all regions. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. Additionally, a new WSTS industry forecast projects continued growth for 2014 and 2015.

“The global semiconductor market maintained its strong momentum in April, with year-over-year sales increasing across every region and product category,” said Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “The market remains well ahead of the pace set in 2013, which was a record year for semiconductor revenues. April marked the twelfth consecutive month that year-over-year sales have increased, and we expect that trend to continue during the remainder of 2014 and into 2015.”

Regionally, sequential monthly sales increased in Asia Pacific (1.7 percent) and Japan (1.1 percent), but decreased in Europe (-0.6 percent) and the Americas (-1.6 percent). Compared to April 2013, sales increased in the Americas (14.7 percent), Asia Pacific (12.5 percent), Europe (8.2 percent), and Japan (4.4 percent – the region’s largest increase in more than three years).

Additionally, SIA today endorsed the WSTS Spring 2014 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry’s worldwide sales will reach $325.4 billion in 2014, a 6.5 percent increase from the 2013 sales total. This reflects a revision up from the WSTS Fall 2013 forecast, which projected 4.1 percent growth in 2014. WSTS now predicts year-over-year increases for 2014 in Asia Pacific (9.3 percent), Europe (7.9 percent), and the Americas (2.1 percent), with a slight decline projected for Japan (-1.3 percent).

Beyond 2014, the industry is expected to grow steadily and moderately across all regions, according to the WSTS forecast. WSTS predicts 3.3 percent growth globally for 2015 ($336.1 billion in total sales) and 4.3 percent growth for 2016 ($350.5 billion). WSTS tabulates its semi-annual industry forecast by convening an extensive group of global semiconductor companies that provide accurate and timely indicators of semiconductor trends.