Annual Semiconductor Sales Plummet 17
The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) has announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors were US$ 22.88 billion in February, a slight decline of 1.3 %, compared to the previous month. The month-over -month sales decline for February is in line with seasonal variations. All figures in the table below represent a three month rolling average.
There was not a huge difference between sales in January and February this year though. Global sales for application specific chips, ICs designed for wired communication IC card applications performed well in February compared to January. In Europe, several of the main product categories grew at a healthy rate in February, despite an overall 1.9% decline compared to January: sensors & actuators, total analogue, MOS microcontroller unit.
Looking at worldwide sales for application specific chips, integrated circuits (ICs) designed for wired communication and IC card applications performed well in February compared to January. On the European market, analogue ICs used for automotive and for communications applications were especially strong in February.
Overall, European semiconductor sales in February 2012 sales declined by 16.4% on a monthly basis. On a YTD basis, semiconductor sales declined by 17.2% versus the same period in 2011.
The impact of the Euro-US$ exchange rate on European sales has had a further impact over last months figures. Measured in Euros (€), semiconductor sales were € 2.072 billion in February 2012, down 1.0% on the previous month and down 14.4% versus the same month a year ago.
On a worldwide level, total semiconductor sales in February were, down 1.3% versus the previous month and decreased by 7.3% versus the same month in 2012.
