Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $28.5 billion in January, the industry's highest-ever January total and an increase of 8.7 percent from January 2014, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
Global sales in January were 2 percent lower than December 2014, when sales totaled $29.1 billion, reflecting normal seasonal trends, the association said.
"After a record-setting 2014, the global semiconductor industry is off to a promising start to 2015, posting its highest-ever January sales led by impressive growth in the Americas market," said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO, in a statement. Neuffer noted that chip sales have increased on a year-to-year basis for 21 consecutive months and remain strong across most regions and product categories.
Regionally, sales in the Americas increased by 16.4 percent compared to last January, the highest year-over-year increase of all regional markets. Sales in Asia in January increased 10.7 percent, but declined 0.2 percent in Europe and 8 percent in Japan, the SIA said.
Compared to December 2014, semiconductor sales in January 2015 declined 0.8 percent in Asia Pacific, 3.3 percent in the Americas, 2 percent in Europe and 6.4 percent in Japan.
All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.
The SIA has endorsed the WSTS 2015 forecast, which predicts steady, but more modest revenue across all geographies over the next two years. The WSTS says semiconductor sales will grow 3.4 percent in 2015 when chip revenue should total $344.5 billion. In 2015, the WSTS predicts semiconductor sales will increase 3.1 percent to $355.3 billion.
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