The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $111.1 billion during the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 20% compared to the first quarter of 2017, but 2.5% less than the fourth quarter of 2017. Sales for the month of March 2018 came in at $37 billion, an increase of 20% compared to the March 2017 total of $30.8 billion and 0.7% more than the February 2018 total of $36.8 billion. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation and represent a three-month moving average. SIA president and CEO John Neuffer commented:
“The global semiconductor market has demonstrated impressive growth through the first quarter of 2018, far exceeding sales through the same point in 2017, which was a record year for semiconductor revenues. Sales in March increased year-on-year for the twentieth consecutive month.
All regional markets experienced double-digit growth compared to last year and all major semiconductor product categories experienced year-on-year growth, with memory products continuing to lead the way”.
Year-to-year sales increased across all regions in March — the Americas (35.7%), Europe (20.6%), China (18.8%), Asia Pacific/All Other (13.3%) and Japan (12.4%). Month-to-month sales increased in Europe (3.9%), China (2.2%), Japan (0.5%) and Asia Pacific/All Other (0.2%), but decreased slightly in the Americas (-2%).
Analyst Comment
The SIA published this data a number of days ago, but there were clear mistakes. Although we contacted the SIA in various ways, it did not come back to us to correct the data. We have published what we believe is the correct data. (BR)
