Chip sales plunge 7% in March from prior month, says SIA report
U.S. trade group continues to predict recovery by fourth quarter
Semiconductor Business News
(05/02/01 09:58 a.m. EST)
SAN JOSE -- The troubled chip industry was pummeled in March. Worldwide revenues dropped 7% in March from sales in February as chip suppliers struggled with a rocky combination of inventory corrections and weakening economies, said the Semiconductor Industry Association here today.
The SIA's global billings report shows semiconductor revenues in March at $14.40 billion, down from $15.48 billion in the prior month. Compared to a year ago, March revenues were 4.5% lower than $15.07 billion in March 2000, using the SIA's three-month moving average.
"Since last November, we have witnessed worldwide semiconductor sales continually decline due to an inventory overhang and macroeconomic factors," said George Scalise, president of the SIA. "We continue to believe that the industry will complete the inventory correction in the third quarter and the recovery will commence in the fourth quarter."
One bright spot in the March report was Japan, which registered a 7% increase in dollar revenues from the same month last year. All other regions fell in a year-to-year comparison of March sales. All regions dropped sequentially in March from February as the 2001 recession gained momentum.
Chip sales in Japan totaled $3.59 billion in March, compared to $3.35 billion in the same month last year, said the SIA report. Japan's chip sales dropped 4.7% from February's $3.76 billion, based on the three-month moving average.
Semiconductor sales in the Americas dropped the most, compared to percentage declines in other regions. Chip revenues totaled $4.11 billion in March, a 10.6% decline from $4.60 billion in the month last year and a 13.4% drop from $4.75 billion in February, said the SIA report.
Europe's chip revenues fell 0.7% to $3.28 billion in March vs. $3.30 billion in the month last year. Europe's semiconductor sales were 2% lower in March compared to $3.34 billion in February, said the SIA report, which is based on data from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization.
Semiconductor sales in Asia Pacific dropped 10.4% on a year-to-year comparison, with March coming in at $3.42 billion vs. $3.82 billion in the month last year. Chip sales in the region dropped 5.6% in March from $3.62 billion in February, the report said. |
