Despite Falling Prices and Other Issues, Semiconductors Do Well in May

One would think that, with all the news and reports about troubles on the DRAM and NAND markets, semiconductor sales wouldn't show a monthly increase, but SIA found that this is precisely what happened in May.

The month of July has started and market watchers, as well as analysts, are looking to see what June brought to or took away from the IT segment.

Then again, making a financial tally for a particular market can be tricky and takes a while, so it will take some time for exact numbers to be provided on the month of June.

Meanwhile, SIA (the Semiconductor Industry Association) has finished looking into the semiconductor happenings of May, 2011, and the results could be considered slightly surprising.

Apparently, even with the way DRAM prices have been falling and with slow demand causing a virtual bottom to be reached by average chip selling prices, May sales were strong.

In numbers, total revenue for the chip market was $25.03 billion, implying an on-year growth of 1.3% and a sequential rise of 1.8%.

Apparently, processor platforms and NAND products have been selling well enough to offset the slowdown on the RAM front.

What remains is to see if SIA's predictions for the whole year, as well as the following two (growth of 5.4%, 7.8% and again 5.4%, respectively) come true. However it turns out, things will depend primarily on tablets, e-readers and industrial applications.

"Taking into consideration macroeconomic factors impacting consumer confidence, the steady but modest growth that the industry demonstrated in May is encouraging," said Brian Toohey, president, Semiconductor Industry Association.

"Global demand for high-end electronics, the continuing proliferation of semiconductor technology into a wider range of products, growth in emerging economies and better than expected recovery from the Japan earthquake will be continued drivers of industry growth in 2011."