14 DAY TRIAL // Even though IT companies have started to complain about the troubled economy in European countries, it appears that the situation is not nearly bad enough to stop the growth of hardware sales in general. Or, at the very least, it is not serious enough to truly act as an impediment for the chip market. This, at least, is what SIA (Semiconductor Industry Association) appears to suggests in its latest press release.
In short, chip sales during May skyrocketed compared to the same month in 2009. Despite that, on an on-month basis (compared to April), chip sales only went up 4.5%, the $24.7 billion reached actually imply an on-year jump of no less than 47.6% (revenues amounted to only 16.7 billion). The main reason for this development is the good performance of the markets in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Each of these segments saw revenues rise by 8.2% and 5%, respectively, compared to April. As for what will happen next, SIA expects yearly sales to rise by 28.4% over 2009, reaching a total of $290.5 billion.
"Global sales of semiconductors in May reached a new high and remain on pace to reach the SIA forecast of 28.4 percent growth to $290.5 billion in 2010," said SIA President George Scalise. "Chip sales have been buoyed by strength in sales of personal computers, cell phones, corporate information technology, industrial applications, and autos. Unit sales of personal computers are now expected to grow by 20 percent this year and cell phone unit sales are predicted to be up 10 to 12 percent over 2009 levels.”
"Emerging markets, including China and India, are fueling sales of computation and communications products," Scalise continued. "The automotive market is also slowly recovering after several years of weak sales. Demand from the corporate information technology and industrial sectors that had pushed out replacement cycles during the global economic recession is beginning to come back."