Global Chip Sales Rise Four Percent
By Lucas van Grinsven, Reuters
AMSTERDAM (Sept. 29) - Global chip sales increased to $13.42 billion in August, up 4 percent from July, keeping the hard-hit industry on track for a healthy recovery, a U.S.-based industry body said Monday.
Revenue grew 12.5 percent from a year earlier, the Semiconductor Industry Association said, quoting statistics from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organization.
The increase was led by demand for chip-hungry electronics such as consumer gadgets, computers and mobile phones, SIA said.
''This rise in end-market demand is generating stronger third-quarter sales than normal seasonal patterns,'' SIA President George Scalise said in a statement.
With the exception of the year 2000, when the chip industry hit a peak, it was the strongest monthly increase since August 1990, Scalise said.
The SIA, as well as many industry and financial analysts, believe the chip industry can grow 10 percent or more this year after rising marginally in 2002 and declining sharply in 2001. At least two analysts discussed raising industry sales growth estimates after reviewing the August numbers.
J.P. Morgan analyst Christopher Danely said he now expects chip industry sales to rise 15 percent this year. His previous forecast was 12 percent. Prices of chips, he said, rose nearly 13 percent in August, above his expectations.
He warned, however, that ''extreme'' valuations of chip companies prevented him from more aggressive recommendations to buy chip industry stocks.
Analyst Nicolas Gaudois at Deutsche Bank in London said he may lift his estimates of 8 percent to 9 percent global growth.
''These are good numbers. There is some potential for upside,'' Gaudois said.
Chip stocks in the U.S. and Europe rose on Monday. In morning trading, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange semiconductor index rose 1.7 percent to 432.01.
The FTSE European semiconductor index climbed 1.2 percent at 216.7, slightly underperforming the 1.8 percent higher DJ Stoxx Eurotech index, which was led higher by index heavyweight Nokia.
Investors were getting back in after the Eurotech index had fallen 11 percent in recent weeks, an Amsterdam-based fund manager said.
Revenue from microprocessors and DRAM memory chips that go into computers rose the most in August, up 7.8 percent and 11 percent, respectively, as back-to-school demand and recovering company investments led to PC sales growth after three flat years.
Chips that go into DVD players and digital cameras did well, too, with sales of application-specific-standard products (ASSP) up 5.3 percent and sales of flash memory for storing pictures and MP3 songs in portable devices up 6.9 percent.
Sales of digital signal processors used in mobile phones were up 4.7 percent.
The SAI/WSTS statistics are a three-month moving average of sales activity to dampen unusual spikes in business, which often occur in months when firms report on their financial results.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Sorid in San Francisco)
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. |
