Global semicon sales fall in April, weaker outlook ahead

WSTS projected year-to-year decreases across all regional markets for 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Global semiconductor sales fell in April 2016 to US$25.8bil and the US based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) projects sales to decline this year before picking up in the next two years.

It said on Wednesday global sales fell 1% from May’s US$26.1bil and were 6.2% lower than the April 2015 total of US$27.6bil. 

The SIA said the monthly sales numbers, compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization, represented a three-month moving average. 

“Additionally, a new WSTS industry forecast projects decreased annual semiconductor sales in 2016, followed by slight market growth in 2017 and 2018,” it said.

SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said global semiconductor sales decreased marginally in April, continuing a recent trend of market sluggishness driven by soft demand and a range of macroeconomic headwinds.

“Despite a cumulative decrease across all product categories, year-to-year sales of microprocessors and analog products increased modestly, perhaps foreshadowing stronger sales ahead. 

“The latest industry forecast suggests global sales may indeed rebound somewhat in the second half of 2016, but still fall short of last year’s total. The global market is projected to grow slightly in 2017 and 2018,” he said.

Japan recorded the highest sales growth from a year ago at 2.2% and China trailed with a 0.3% increase. However, Asia Pacific/All Other recorded an -8.2% decline, Europe (-8.6%), and the Americas (-14.8%). 

Compared with May, sales were up slightly in Japan (0.2%) and Asia Pacific/All Other (0.1%). However, there were on-month declines in Europe (-0.8%), China (-1.8%), and the Americas (-2.2%).

SIA endorsed the WSTS Spring 2016 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry’s worldwide sales will be US$327.2bil in 2016, down 2.4% from 2015.

 WSTS projected year-to-year decreases across all regional markets for 2016: Europe (-0.1%), Asia Pacific (-1.2%), Japan (-1.7%), and the Americas (-7.3%). 

However, it was not all doom and gloom for the industry as WSTS predicted growth in 2016 for several semiconductor product categories, including discretes, analog, and MCU products. 

“Beyond 2016, the semiconductor market is expected to grow at a modest pace across all regions. 

“WSTS forecasts 2.0% growth globally for 2017 (US$333.7bil in total sales) and 2.2% growth for 2018 (US$340.9bil),” said SIA.