European semiconductor sales down 0.9 percent in April

BRUSSLES, BELGIUM: Sales on the European semiconductor market have been weaker in April compared with the previous month, the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) reports. It seems that worldwide semiconductor sales may have hit the bottom for the second time in the short term trend.

Some important product categories have shown good dynamics in April. In particular, sensors and actuators grew by 6 percent, total analog by 3 percent, and MOS digital signal processors by 5 percent. On the memory market, positive figures were reported for DRAM (up 6 percent) and flash memories (in particular NAND, up 11 percent).

Looking at application specific chips, communications and automotive applications specific analog grew by 19 percent and 6 percent, respectively, contributing mostly to the growth of the analog market in April.

Overall, European semiconductor sales in April 2009 amounted to $ 2.168 billion. This corresponds to a decline of 35 percent compared to the same month last year. On a YTD basis semiconductor sales declined by 34.3 percent in 2009 versus the same period in the year 2008.

The exchange rate imbalance of the Euro compared to the US dollar holds its impact on the European sales picture. Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales of 1.666 billion Euros in April 2009 were weaker again, down 0.6 percent on the previous month and down 23.5 percent versus the same month a year ago. On a YTD basis semiconductor sales declined by 24 percent in 2009 versus the same period in the year 2008.

On a worldwide basis, semiconductor sales in April 2009 were $ 15.638 billion, up 6.4 percent versus the previous month. Compared to the same month in 2008, this results in a decline of 25.1 percent and on an YTD basis it results in a decline of 26.5 percent.