Semiconductor industry reports January chip sales grew 14 percent YoY

WASHINGTON, USA: The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25.5 billion for the month of January 2011, a gain of 1.5 percent from the prior month when sales were $25.2 billion. Sales increased by 14 percent from $22.4 billion in January 2010. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.

“The industry will continue to benefit from steady growth, as semiconductor content increases in a wide range of products. The impressive growth in semiconductor sales over the past year has been driven by strong demand across all major end markets as the products we use everyday become smarter, faster, and less expensive,” said Brian Toohey, president, SIA. “We are especially encouraged by this trend in the industrial and automotive sectors, which saw significant growth.”

The integration of semiconductors has increased across all verticals including consumer, automotive, computer, industrial, communications and government applications where the industry saw 32 percent year-over-year growth in 2010. Specifically, semiconductor sales to both the industrial and automotive sectors saw significant year-over-year growth which increased by 50 percent and 44 percent respectively in 2010.

The integration of energy efficient tools and increased automation in industrial applications can account for some of the growth in this sector’s use of semiconductors. In the automotive sector, increased demand for semiconductor enabled technologies can be attributed to emerging hybrid and electric vehicles, entertainment applications, engine controls and navigation systems.