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SIA: Feb. Global Semiconductor Sales Up
Monday March 31, 7:42 am ET

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080331/sia_chip_sales.html?.v=1

Industry Group Says Worldwide Chip Sales Rose 1.5 Percent in February

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Global semiconductor sales rose 1.5 percent year-over-year in February, with growing demand for electronics outside the U.S., the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said Monday.

The industry group said sales totaled $20.44 billion during the month, compared with $20.14 billion in February 2007.

Global chip sales fell 4.9 percent from January -- when sales totaled $21.48 billion, SIA said.

SIA said the sequential drop followed the industry's normal seasonal patterns.

SIA President George Scalise said in a statement that ongoing price declines in DRAM chips -- or dynamic random access memory, which is the most common type of memory chip used in personal computers -- masked underlying strength in global chip sales. Average selling prices for DRAM chips fell almost 60 percent year-over-year.

Scalise also said, excluding memory products, chip sales rose almost 10 percent year-over-year in February, and shipments for all semiconductor products rose 11.6 percent from a year ago.