China steers global chip sales away from red

Article By : Gary Hilson

Month-to-month sales into all regional markets has held relatively steady, with China leading the way with 3.1% market growth.

Worldwide sales of semiconductors has reached $26 billion for the month of May, an increase of 0.4 per cent compared to the previous month's total of $25.9 billion, but a decrease of 7.7 per cent compared to the same month last year's $28.1 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

Month-to-month sales into all regional markets held relatively steady, with China leading the way with 3.1 per cent market growth. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation and represent a three-month moving average.

In a news release, SIA CEO John Neuffer said the small uptick in global semiconductor sales in May marked the market’s largest month-to-month growth in six months, but that the overall landscape remains somewhat stagnant due to soft demand and unfavourable macroeconomic conditions. “Most regional markets have struggled to gain traction in 2016, with the Americas falling well behind sales posted through the same point last year. Sales of analogue products were a bright spot in May, notching both month-to-month and year-to-year increases.”

__Figure 1:__ *Year-to-year per cent change (Source: WSTS)*

Regionally, month-to-month sales increased in China (3.1 per cent), but slipped slightly in the Americas (-0.1 per cent), Europe (-0.8 per cent), Asia Pacific/all other (-0.8 per cent), and Japan (-1.8 per cent). Year-to-year sales increased marginally in Japan (0.4 per cent), but dropped in China (-0.5 per cent), Europe (-8.8 per cent), Asia Pacific/all other (-11.5 per cent), and the Americas (-15.0 per cent).