Sales of chips have given a strong indication that things could be looking up for semiconductor businesses. In August there was a 14% increase in sales on the previous year as they totalled $11.9bn.
The president of SIA has told ZDnet that "The August data confirms that the semiconductor industry is in the midst of a broadly based upturn". The most significant increases in sales are still in the embedded market but the microprocessor and home PC chip sales figures are also showing signs that the trend of good sales is to continue.
SIA have forecasted a 3% rise in overall revenue for 2002 and while this may not sound like much it is a great achievement when compared to the last couple of years. Sales of other types of chips such as those used in set-top DVD players were also up in some areas.
Hopefully this prosperity will continue into the next year and the industry will see an influx in profit and sales – resulting in better development and cheaper products for the end user (well, we can but hope).
News source: ZDNet UK
