Semiconductor Chip Sales Suffer Fourth Largest Decline in 35

According to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) group, the semiconductor manufacturing world has simply seen one of many largest contractions within the final 35 years. The downturn on produced income for producers for the month of March consolidated right into a decline of 1.8% in comparison with February of this yr, and a decline of 13% when in comparison with March 2018 – however quarter-reviewed revenues had been even worse. In dollar phrases, the semiconductor business noticed a decline from $114.7 billion within the earlier quarter to “just” $96.Eight billion.

The decline was throughout all semiconductor product classes, as John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) commerce group, mentioned: “Sales in March decreased on a year-to-year basis across all major regional markets and semiconductor product categories, consistent with the cyclical trend the global market has experienced recently.” Market evaluation agency IC Insights says that the decline was extra extreme than the WSTS studies, and that it totaled a 17.1% discount in income for the primary quarter of this yr, making it the fourth greatest decline since 1984. As IC Insights mentioned in an announcement, “The first quarter is usually the weakest quarter of the year for the IC market, averaging a sequential decline of 2.1% over the past 36 years, but the severity of the 1Q19/4Q18 IC market drop has started this year off at a very low level.”