Another writeup on the world wide semiconductor sales for the month of November.
<<Worldwide semiconductor sales fall 9.8% in November
4:38 PM ET 1/2/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Worldwide sales of semiconductors fell 9.8% to $20.8 billion in November, compared with $23.1 billion in the year-earlier period, the Semiconductor Industry Association said Friday.
"The worldwide economic crisis is having an impact on demand for semiconductors, but to a lesser degree than some other major industry sectors," said SIA President George Scalise. "We expect the industry will remain the second-largest exporter in the U.S. for 2008."
Despite the SIA report, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index $SOX rose 4.6% Friday, with heavyweights Intel Corp. (INTC) up 3.7% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) ahead 10.2%.
Still, the November sales decline underscored the downturn that recently prompted several major chip makers, including Intel, AMD and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), to cut their sales targets.
Excluding memory products, November chip sales fell 4.8% from the year-earlier month to $17.3 billion, the SIA said.
"Not all segments of the industry are being affected equally by the downturn," Scalise reported. "The memory market, which has been under severe price pressure throughout the year, has seen sales decline significantly, while many other product sectors have year-to-date sales above 2007 levels."
Sales in November declined 7.2% from the $22.4 billion reported for October, the SIA added.
Analysts at J.P. Morgan cut their 2009 semiconductor sales forecast on Friday to a 20% contraction from a 17% contraction.
"We remain cautious on the group due to slowing end demand. In order to become bullish on the sector, we would need to see margins closer to trough levels, low inventory and stable demand," they wrote. "We believe all three of these factors could occur in [the first half of 2009] as companies actively reduce inventory and utilization rates." |
