September semicon sales fall 2.5% on August

Chip sales fell 2.5 per cent in September when compared to August's figure - the opposite of what many market players and watchers had expected.

September is traditionally the key sales period during the third quarter, with sales surpassing those of August and July. Most observers were anticipating a slight rise through September.

But whether it was the impact of the events of 11 September or the real state of the world chip market that caused sales to fall to $10.22 billion from August's $10.48 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today.

And September's sales were down 44.6 per cent on the same month last year, it added.

The SIA put a brave face on the news, pointing out that the decline wasn't as steep as that between August and July. True, 2.5 per cent is less than 3.5 per cent, but not much. And the July-August dip was broadly expected - unlike the August-September fall.

North America and Japan saw the biggest month-on-month falls, down 6.4 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively. Sales to the Asia-Pacific region slid 2.6 per cent. Europe experienced only a 0.7 per cent decline.

Compared to September 2000, sales in the Europe were down 41.7 per cent, in North America 58.6 per cent, 30.9 per cent in Asia-Pacific and down 42.7 per cent in Japan. ®

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