Global chip sales up 2.2 p.c. in April vs March

BANGALORE, INDIA: Worldwide semiconductor sales in April rose 2.2 per cent from March to $23.6 billion, driven by the growing adoption of 3G wireless communications and a recovery in demand from the enterprise, automotive and industrial sectors, the Semiconductor Industry Association said.

Going forward, semiconductor sales will return to historical seasonal patterns, SIA said.

Sales in April rose 50.4 per cent from a year ago as the industry continued to rise from the trough of the recession.

"Global sales of semiconductors grew at a healthy rate in April, surpassing the previous monthly record level of November 2007," SIA President George Scalise said. "As expected, both the year-on-year and sequential growth rates moderated slightly."

Major chipmakers include Intel Corp, Texas Instruments Inc, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Broadcom Corp, National Semiconductor Corp, Nvidia Corp, Qualcomm Corp, Samsung Electronics Co and Hynix Semiconductor.