Chip association bullish, hails return of gravy train

Sales worldwide accounted for $14.4 billion, and the trade association claimed that much of the sales were driven by CPUs and memory chips, as well as being fuelled by flash for consumer gadgets and mobile phones.

Analysts at Handelsbanken Capital Markets, however, said that consumer electronic chips were the strongest category in the month, and PC related chips actually weakened during the month.

For example, DRAM prices slipped in price in September, compared to August, with spot prices of the memories staying "very flat".

Shipments of wireless DSPs, said a report from Handelsbanken, show there are more sales of handsets. Price for flash memory was $4.81 in September, compared to $4.68 in August.

The analysts said that more camera phones sold in the second quarter of this year than digital cameras.

According to Handelsbanken, chip chipments actually slipped in the US after a strong August, with 40% of shipments being from Intel, 10% from TI, 5% from Motorola, and 45% other chip firms.