European chip market continues slow recovery

With an overall growth of 5.3 percent, calculated on a three month rolling average basis, the figures document the ongoing market recovery. According to the organization, sales for optoelectronic components performed well above the global average with a growth of 17 percent over the preceding month. A similar tendency was observed for sensors which added 13 percent. DRAM sales figures were up 16 percent, driven by price hikes. Microprocessors were up 7.2 percent, microcontrollers up 6 percent.

The demand for analog devices used in automotive applications climbed 7.1 percent. Since the market for all analog chips grew only by 4.2 percent, this could be interpreted as a hint to recovering automotive markets.

Nevertheless, overall sales still took a breathtaking dive in comparison to the same month last year: Overall semiconductor sales in Europe in July amounted to $2.317 billion, almost 32 percent below the level of July 2008. On a year-to-date basis, the image looks even bleaker: Sales declined by 33.1 percent in 2009 compared with the same period in 2008.

The recent recovery tendencies in Europe are in line with the global trend. Worldwide sales also recovered by 5.3 percent in July, with uptrend being particular strong in Japan with 7.9 percent.

In its report, ESIA refers to data from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS).

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