The world's electronics and other hardware manufacturers spent $19.6m on semiconductors in September, the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said today - a total the organisation characterised as "very strong".

The figure is 5.2 per cent higher than August's total, and 5.6 per cent up on the number reported for September 2004. All territories showed a sequential increase in sales, though Europe and Japan were still down year on year.

For the third calendar quarter, world chip sales totalled $58.7bn, up 8.9 per cent sequentially from Q2's $55.6bn, and 6.3 per cent higher than the year-ago quarter's sales of $55.2bn.

Semiconductor sales for the first nine months of 2005 reached $167.6bn, an increase of 6.1 per cent from the first nine months of 2004.

“The September numbers show strong demand across most major product lines, reflecting continued strength in end markets," the SIA said. "Demand for chips used in a wide array of consumer products accounted for much of the September increase. Third-quarter PC unit sales continued to surpass expectations, increasing by 17 per cent over the same period of 2004, while unit sales of cell phones increased by 25 per cent from the third quarter of 2004. Sales of consumer electronics continued to be strong during the period."

The SIA said it believes the industry is on track to sell $226bn worth of chips this year. It needs to sell $58.4bn in the current quarter to meet that SIA-forecast total - less than the industry sold in Q3. ®

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