December 1, 2008
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The industry's latest numbers confirm what everybody has been suspecting since September: overall, global
chip sales were lower by about 2.42 percent in October when compared with the same 2007 period.
Across the board, chip and microprocessor prices have dropped for everything - from chips used in digital
cameras, cell phones and even music players. The numbers were worsened amid the global financial meltdown.
The Semiconductor Industry Association said earlier today that the impact is expected to be felt well into
2009.
As a whole, chip sales dropped to about $22.5 billion in October from $23 billion in October 2007. Sales for
the month were 2.1 percent lower than the $23 billion in September, the SIA said.
Overall sales of DRAM (memory chips used in computers) were down 14.1 percent from a year ago, while the
capacity of the sold chips was up an impressive 73 percent.
Lower prices for memory chips were behind much of the decline. Excluding memory, sales rose 3.8 percent from
2007's levels. Sales of NAND flash memory, used in digital cameras, cell phones and music players, dropped 41 percent
in dollar terms even as they rose 123 percent in terms of memory capacity shipped, the SIA said.
SIA President George Scalise said in a statement "the global financial turmoil is expected to continue to severely
impact demand for semiconductors and CPUs as we enter the new year. For 2009, PC unit shipments are forecast to
be lower by about 4 to 5 percent, and mobile phone unit shipments are projected to fall by about 8.9 percent."
Scalise added that "PCs and mobile phones account for approximately 60 percent of total demand for the global
semiconductor market."
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Source: The Semiconductor Industry Association.
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