Global chip sales take a tumble

THE CHIPS ARE DOWN again, it seems, with the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) saying global chip sales fell 22 per cent in December to just $17.4 billion compared with $22.3 billion the year before, as the world's credit continues to be crunched.

Sales were down 2.8 per cent in total for 2008, reaching $248.6 million, whilst December's sales really tanked, falling 16.6 per cent sequentially. The slump represents the first year-on-year drop in sales since 2001.

George Scalise, SIA President stated the glaringly obvious when he noted, "The global economic recession severely dampened semiconductor sales in the fourth quarter."

Scalise also blamed softening of consumer demand for cars, PCs, mobile phones and IT gadgetry in general for a "sharp drop in industry sales" affecting all product lines.

Memory products actually bore the brunt of the sales slump with prices plummeting as the market attempted to recover from a devastating glut.

Scalise isn't exactly optimistic about the future, either, fatalistically leaving the plight of Semiconductor makers to the feds. Future sales growth, he noted, would "depend in part on the effectiveness of various measures now under consideration by the Federal government to restore consumer confidence, improve liquidity and stimulate economic growth."

How very reassuring. µ