November semicon sales rise at highest rate in nearly 2 years

SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha said equipment billings in August declined relative to July, signaling a pause in this year's extraordinary growth.

KUALA LUMPUR: North American semiconductor industry companies racked up global sales of US$31bil in November last year, which was at the highest rate in nearly two years, underpinned by the Chinese market, says the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

The US-based SIA announced recently the November 2016 sales rose 7.4% from the US$28.9bil a year ago and were 2% above October 2016’s US$30.4bil. The November sales marked the market’s largest year-to-year growth since January 2015. 

SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said: “Global semiconductor sales continued to pick up steam in November, increasing at the highest rate in almost two years and nearly pulling even with the year-to-date total from the same point in 2015.”

“The Chinese market continues to stand out, growing nearly 16% year-to-year to lead all regional markets. As 2016 draws to a close, the global semiconductor market appears likely to roughly match annual sales from 2015 and is well-positioned for a solid start to 2017.”

The SIA represents US leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

It pointed out November sales increased modestly across all regions from October.  The Americas (3.3% ), China (2.7%), Europe (2.5%), Asia Pacific/All Other (0.7%), and Japan (0.4%). 

Year-to-year sales increased in China (15.8%), Japan (8.2%), Asia Pacific/All Other (4.8%), and the Americas (3.2%), but fell slightly in Europe (-1.6%).