September averaged global chip sales show 8.2% growth

LONDON — The three-month average of global sales of semiconductors rose to $20.64 billion in September, up 8.2 percent from an upwardly revised $19.07 billion in August, and down 10.1 percent from September 2008, according to the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA).

The figures are based on statistics gathered by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average of chip shipments.

Increases were reported for a number of product categories on a three-month rolling average basis. Optoelectronics, sensors, total analog and microprocessors performed above the worldwide levels. On the logic side, total logic returned to positive growth, registering a 5.1 percent increase in sales after several months of decline, the ESIA said.

Looking at application-specific chips, analog devices used in automotive rose sharply, growing on a three-month rolling average basis by 7.1 percent in September compared to the previous month.

Sales were up sequentially in all geographic regions with Europe and the Asia-Pacific region growing fastest at 8.8 percent, although Europe remains a long way behind where it was in 2008. Asia-Pacific grew to $10.94 billion three-month averages sales in September. Of this China is responsible for $4.07 billion, up 8.3 percent from $3.76 billion in August.

ESIA publishes WSTS numbers as a three-month average in line with the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). The SIA argues that this smoothes out the data which would otherwise display the effects of in-quarter reporting that tend to treat March, June, September and December as five-week months.

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