Worldwide semiconductor sales fall by 30.4 percent

Author: Ben Hardwidge
Published: 6th April 2009
Comments (6) Stumble
Worldwide semiconductor sales fall by 30.4 percent

The SIA's latest figures show a sharp decline in the revenue from sales of semiconductors compared with the same period last year.

Following last month’s reports about the graphics card market shrinking by 42.7 per cent, it looks as though everyone else in the silicon industry has also had a rough time over the last few months. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has just released its latest figures for the worldwide sales of semiconductors in February 2009, revealing a drop of 30.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

The total sales of semiconductors for February 2009 accounted for $14.17 billion US in February 2009, compared with $20.35 billion US in February 2008. The worst-hit area was Europe, in which sales of semiconductors declined by 36.1 percent compared with February 2008, while sales in the US went down by 24.9 percent.

The SIA’s president, George Scalise, said that “the global semiconductor industry is going through one of the steepest corrections in its history.” However, he cautiously added that the industry may have seen the worst of it now. “While it would be premature to conclude that the sales decline has hit bottom,” said Scalise, “there are some indications that the rate of decline has moderated from the final quarter of 2008.”

Scalise also pointed out that the semiconductor industry “responded quickly to the changing market environment by curtailing production and reducing inventory as demand slowed in late 2008. The world’s two largest foundry manufacturers have recently reported slight improvements in factory utilisation rates, albeit at levels well below those of a year ago.”

The silicon chip industry is still facing a grim time ahead, though. Scalise concludes that demand for semiconductors “semiconductors is likely to continue well below 2008 levels for the next few quarters, with a gradual recovery to follow as the global economy recovers.”

Are you buying fewer upgrades now, or has the recession not affected your buying decisions. Share your thoughts on the semiconductor industry’s future in the forums.
Quote ChaosDefinesOrder 6th April 2009, 15:14
um, what about 2001 to 2002 (if I'm reading the barely legible time scale correctly) That looks like a much bigger drop, making the "steepest corrections in its history" a bit innacurate...
Quote Laitainion 6th April 2009, 15:28
I think that's based on both the red and the blue falling, whereas in 01/02 it was only the red that dropped (although very steeply). Unfortuantely I can't quite make out the key, so I have no idea what the blue actually represents.
Quote ¦Cold¦ 6th April 2009, 15:38
They both effectively represent the same thing - the blue line shows semiconductor revenues (in $, obviously) and the red shows percentage change year-on-year. So a change in one is linked to the other. And in case you couldn't see, the blue line also dropped substantially from 01-02.

It depends whether the claim is based on the revenue or percentage figures. Since the semiconductor market is now much larger than it was 8 years ago, it could have suffered a much larger drop in terms of $ revenue, but that would still be smaller than the shrink in 01-02 in terms of the percentage of the entire market.

And ChaosDefinesOrder, it says 'ONE of the steepest corrections in history', so it is still technically correct is one is being pedantic.
Quote Xir 6th April 2009, 19:13
Quote:
everyone else in the silicon industry has also had a rough time over the last few months

Yep.
Quote:
...by curtailing production and reducing inventory

uhuh...noticed... (see "Quimonda") ;)
Quote:
um, what about 2001 to 2002 (if I'm reading the barely legible time scale correctly) That looks like a much bigger drop, making the "steepest corrections in its history" a bit innacurate...
The current revenue drop is steeper than 2001-2002 (and margins are smaller now), and appearently deeper, percentage wise.

Also, the reduction in used cm² of silicon, or No. of dice is al lot worse
Quote ChromeX 7th April 2009, 04:29
What a brilliant time to graduate with a degree in electronic systems engineering with a speciality in nano electric design :(
Quote [USRF]Obiwan 7th April 2009, 10:40
Damn, it's just like the internet soap bubble collapse end 1999 with 'world online' and all other y2k doom things going on.
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