Worldwide semiconductor sales in the third quarter rose 13.7 percent from the prior quarter and 17.5 percent from a year ago, driven by strong demand for PCs, an industry group said Sunday.
CHIP REVENUE ROSE to $43.3 billion for the third quarter, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) based in San Jose, California.
Sales in September were $14.4 billion, up 6.5 percent from August, making it the seventh consecutive monthly increase and the strongest percentage gain since 1990, the SIA said.
“September and third-quarter data confirm that demand in the global semiconductor market is rising briskly,” said SIA President George Scalise. “Performance is strong in all major market sectors — computation, communications and consumer, indicating a solid, continuing and broad-based growth cycle.”
Personal computers, which represent nearly one-third of the end market, drove growth in the quarter, producing a 33 percent rise in sales of dynamic random access memory chips and a 24 percent rise in sales of microprocessors, the SIA said.
Strong growth in sales of cell phones, which account for 12 percent of end-market demand, led to a 27 percent rise in flash memory sales and a 20 percent rise in digital signal processors, the SIA said.
Geographically, sales rose in all sectors in the quarter, led by 19 percent in Asia Pacific, 12 percent in Europe, 11 percent in Japan and 8.6 percent in the Americas.
The SIA has forecast revenue growth of at least 10 percent for 2003, followed by stronger double-digit growth in 2004.
The industry is slowly recovering from its worst-ever downturn that began in 2001 amid a broader technology slump resulting from a general economic slowdown and corporate spending cutbacks.
Intel Corp. , seen as a bellwether for the industry as the world’s largest chip maker, on Oct. 14 posted quarterly net income that more than doubled from a year earlier and forecast higher fourth-quarter revenue.
The SIA’s global sales report reflects a three-month moving average of sales activity. It is tabulated by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organization.
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