Chip sales continue to fall

One probably shouldn’t expect great quarterly reports from semiconductor companies this month. After sales fell sharply in January, they declined even more in February, according to data provided by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organization (WSTS). Worldwide semiconductor sales reached 32.9 billion dollars in February, down 7.3 percent sequentially and 10.6 percent annually. In January a sequential decrease of 7.2 percent and a year-to-year decrease of 5.7 percent was seen.

‘Global semiconductor sales fell across the board in February, with all major product categories experiencing drops on a year-to-year and month-to-month basis,’ said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. ‘Sales were also down across all major regional markets, as the global industry continues to endure a period of slowing sales following record revenues over the last three years.’

Earlier this year market watchers expected the market to start growing again in the second half of the year. Most forecasts predicted modest growth or decline for 2019 overall. Whether this prediction still holds, we’ll know in a few weeks when the quarterly reports will have been published. Next week, on 17 April, industry bellwether ASML kicks off.