It will take a couple of years to grow back into last year’s peak semiconductor sales levels, but there’s a good chance that sales will top forecasts this year, said George Scalise, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Worldwide sales of semiconductors slipped 20 percent year over year to $51.7 billion in the second quarter, according to the SIA. However, quarterly chip sales increased 17 percent from the $44.2 billion recorded in the first quarter.
“The data suggest that PC sales, although they may be down, aren’t going to be down as much as anticipated for the year,” Scalise told CNBC. “They are a big driver for the industry: about 40 percent of our demand is going to be in PC consumption.”
Scalise said cell phone sales may also be lower, but not as much as anticipated.
“The largest growth market for PCs today is in the developing world,” he said.
“If you look at India and China, they are both upped their forecast for GDP growth this year—China’s looking at about 7.2 percent and India 5.5 percent. And there’s going to be a lot of demand right there alone. You can say that for cell phones, too, where two-thirds are in the developing world.”
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Disclosure:
No immediate information was available for Scalise or his firm.
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