Relative good start for the European semiconductor market in January
Despite the traditional slow start for January, the European market was relatively stable in comparison with the sales reported in December, on a three months rolling average, in comparison to the weaker results reported from the other Regions.
Microcontrollers increased compared to the previous month, DRAM memories confirm the good results from the last quarter of 2006. Sales of optoelectronics, general purpose logic and logic chips specifically designed for communication products contribute positively to the sales in Europe. Microprocessors have been in line with the total result.
On the negative side, WSTS reports weaker sales of flash memories and digital signal processors. Despite this subdued market development on a sequential month to month basis, a year on year comparison illustrates that from an application perspective the market in January 2007 was significantly higher than a year ago in segments like consumer, and some typical areas of European strength such as automotive and IC cards.
European Semiconductor sales in January 2007 amounted to US$ 3.484 billion according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), down 0.4% versus the previous month. This corresponds to a 9.4% growth compared to the same month last year. On a YTD basis semiconductor sales increased by 14.1% versus the same period in the year 2006.
The exchange rate of the Euro compared to the US$ still had its impact on the growth data in the recent months. Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales in January 2007 were EURO 2.678 billion, down 1.3% on previous month and up 0.1% versus the same month a year ago. On a YTD basis semiconductor sales showed a growth of 6.6% versus the same period in the year 2006.
On a worldwide basis, semiconductor sales in January 2007 were US$ 21.474 billion, down 1.2% versus the previous month. This results in an increase of 9.2% versus the same month in 2006 and on a YTD basis it results in a growth rate of 10.7%.