Semiconductor sales started sluggishly across the board in 2016, due largely to softening demand and lingering economic headwinds, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) trade group.

Chip sales declined on both a sequential and annual basis across all regions except China, where sales increased compared with January 2015. It marked the third straight month that China was the only region to post year-to-year growth in chip sales.

Global chip sales totaled $26.9 billion in January, down 3% from the previous month and down 6% compared with January 2015, according to the sales numbers, compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. The sales numbers for the month represent a three-month rolling average.

January sales were down sequentially across all regions and all product categories, the SIA said. Sales to the Americas region were particularly light, declining by 6% from December and by 17% compared with January 2015, the SIA said.

John Neuffer, president and CEO of the SIA, said through a statement that the organization continues to project modest growth in chip sales in 2016 despite the softening demand and economic headwinds.

In addition to declining sequentially, chip sales in Europe, Japan and the Asia-Pacific region also showed year-over-year declines. Chip sales to China, while declining slightly sequentially, did increase by 4% compared with January 2015.

The WSTS forecast for 2016 calls for semiconductor sales to grow slightly to $336 billion, up from $335 billion in 2015. The forecast calls for sales to increase by an additional 3% in 2017, reaching $347 billion. Growth in 2016 is expected to be driven by sensors, microprocessors and logic, while all product categories and regions are forecast to grow moderately in 2017.

By: DocMemory
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