The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $31.3 billion for the month of April 2017, an increase of 20.9 percent from the April 2016 total of $25.9 billion and 1.3 percent more than last month’s total of $30.9 billion. April marked the global market’s largest year-to-year growth since September 2010. 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 annual global market growth of 11.5 percent in 2017 and 2.7 percent in 2018, followed by a slight decrease of 0.2 percent in 2019.
“The global semiconductor market has grown at an impressive rate through the beginning of 2017, culminating with April’s year-to-year growth of 21 percent, the global market’s largest increase in nearly seven years,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Although driven in part by tremendous growth in the memory market, sales of non-memory products also grew by double digits in April, and all major regional markets posted substantial year-to-year gains. The global market is projected to experience significant annual growth this year, with slower growth expected next year and roughly flat sales in 2019.”
Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in China (30.0 percent), the Americas (26.9 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (14.1 percent), Europe (12.7 percent), and Japan (12.0 percent). Compared with last month, sales were up slightly across all regions: Asia Pacific/All Other (2.0 percent), the Americas (1.8 percent), Japan (1.4 percent), China (0.7 percent), and Europe (0.5 percent).
Additionally, SIA today endorsed the WSTS Spring 2017 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry’s worldwide sales will be $377.8 billion in 2017. This would mark the industry’s highest-ever annual sales, an 11.5 percent increase from the 2016 sales total. WSTS projects year-to-year increases across all regional markets for 2017: Asia Pacific (12.4 percent), the Americas (12.2 percent), Europe (8.7 percent), and Japan (6.6 percent). Beyond 2017, growth in the semiconductor market is expected to slow across all regions. 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.