To: DAN KACKLEY who wrote (2613 ) 3/11/1998 10:48:00 PM From: j g cordes Respond to of 8218
Global Chip Sales Down Nearly 5% In January (03/11/98; 6:12 p.m. EST) By Patrick Waurzyniak, Electronic Buyers' News Global chip sales continue to show softness that combined with the Asia-Pacific region's economic woes pushed overall sales down by 4.5 percent during January compared with worldwide sales for the previous month, according to figures released Wednesday by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Worldwide semiconductor sales reached $10.97 billion in January, an increase of 2.9 percent and $304 million higher than January 1997 totals, but a decline from the $11.48 billion in sales during December 1997. The 2.9 percent increase over last January's sales figures was the second strongest January of the 1990s, according to the Mountain View, Calif.-based SIA. The SIA said Europe topped year-to-year regional growth with sales up 10.5 percent from January 1997, while the Americas and Asia-Pacific markets also had large sales gains from 1997, jumping 7.3 percent and 7.0 percent, respectively. In Japan, however, sales continued to slump, as January 1998 sales decreased 12.8 percent from January 1997 sales. "January sales reflect the impact of Asia's economic malaise combined with a seasonal pattern of sluggish sales," said SIA president George Scalise. "Historically, long-term sales have grown despite short-term weaknesses." Asia-Pacific sales in January decreased 6.5 percent from December sales. The SIA noted that since 1990, sales in that region have increased by an average of 26 percent per year, and that sales declines were suffered by all market regions from December to January. Sales in the Americas, European, and Japanese markets dipped by 3 percent, 2.2 percent and 7 percent, respectively. The SIA's rolling three-month average sales also showed declines in every region, with Japan's 14.3 percent dropoff being the steepest, as semiconductor sales for November-December-January fell 8.5 percent to $10.97 billion, down from the August-September-October period's total worldwide sales of $11.99 billion