Study Says Global Semiconductor Sales Up 20 Percent From 2017

The good times continue for the electronics industry, if one uses the key metric of semiconductor sales as a barometer.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), a semiconductor industry association, reported that global semiconductor sales reached $111.1 billion the first quarter of 2018, up 20 percent compared to the first quarter of 2017, though 2.5 percent less than the fourth quarter of 2017. Sales for March 2018 reached $37.0 billion, up 20 percent compared to the March 2017 total of $30.8 billion and 0.7 percent more than the February 2018 total of $36.8 billion.

“The global semiconductor market has demonstrated impressive growth through the first quarter of 2018, far exceeding sales through the same point in 2017, which was a record year for semiconductor revenues,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association, in a statement. “Sales in March increased year-to-year for the 20^th consecutive month.”

Robust demand in the IoT, wireless technologies, and next-generation vehicles are just some of the applications are just some of the sectors driving semiconductor demand. The demand also spread across all regional markets, which experienced double-digit growth compared to last year, and across all major semiconductor product categories, led by memory products.

According to the SIA, year-to-year sales increased across all regions in March: the Americas (35.7 percent), Europe (20.6 percent), China (18.8 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (13.3 percent), and Japan (12.4 percent). Month-to-month sales increased in Europe (3.9 percent), China (2.2 percent), Japan (0.5 percent), and Asia Pacific/All Other (0.2 percent), but decreased slightly in the Americas (-2.0 percent).