European Semiconductor market data reports positive results for 2007
The March figures for semiconductor sales data have been better than expected. The European market did especially well with 4.8% increase on a year over year base and in comparison with the other regions.
Sequentially, the first quarter was down 3%, which is in line with the historical pattern. With this value the European market performed better than the World market (figures shown in table).
The drivers for these developments have been general purpose products with wide applications like Microcontroller, Memories, Standard Logic, Discretes.
Microprocessors showed a dip across all Regions, still as results of adjustments started in the previous months and which are still happening on the markets.
From an application point of view, Automotive performed well with increasing sales for both Year over Year and sequentially. In contrast lower sales were reported for communication and consumer products, sequentially over the last quarter of 2006.
European Semiconductor sales in March 2007 amounted to US$ 3.391 billion according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), up 1.5% versus the previous month. This corresponds to a 4.8% growth compared to the same month last year. On a YTD basis semiconductor sales increased by 4.8% as well versus the same period in the year 2006.
The exchange rate of the Euro compared to the US$ increased again these days its impact on the growth data in the recent months. Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales in March 2007 were EURO 2.585 billion, up 1.3% on previous the month and down 3.8% versus the same month a year ago. On a YTD basis semiconductor sales showed a decline of 3.8% versus the same period in the year 2006.
On a worldwide basis, semiconductor sales in March 2007 were US$ 20.339 billion, up 1.0% versus the previous month. This results in an increase of 3.2% versus the same month in 2006 and on a YTD basis it results in a growth rate of 3.2%.
