Worldwide semiconductor sales rose 10% year-over-year in April but stayed flat from March, according to Semiconductor Industry Association . April chip sales totaled $12.1 billion, up from $11.1 billion in April 2002 but virtually unchanged from March.

Although chip sales had been expected to increase on a sequential basis, corporate IT equipment purchases remained unimpressive contributing to the weaker than expected April results.

"Sluggish global economic growth and the Chinese SARS outbreak caused a deferral of sales in April to future months," said George Scalise, president of the SIA, in a statement.

"In the United States, an anticipated corporate PC upgrade cycle, expected to add strength to continuing consumer purchases of PCs, has again been pushed back, as executives cite continuing uncertainty and reduced visibility," Scalise added.

DRAM sales declined a sharper 5% offsetting a 6% upswing in application specific standard products and a 3% climb in optoelectronics IC sales, according to the SIA.

The wireless handset market, which had in the past propped up chip revenue, weakened in April with digital signal processor sales dropping 10% on a 12% decline in unit shipment. Meanwhile flash memory sales were almost unchanged while microprocessor sales fell more than 1%.

By: DocMemory
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