Global chip sales seen 7% up in May

John Walko
EE Times Europe
(06/27/2008 7:43 AM EDT)

LONDON — The three-month moving average of global chip sales is estimated to have come in at $21.7 billion in May, up a healthy 7 percent on the $21.2 billion achieved in April, according to Bruce Diesen, analyst at Carnegie Research.

Diesen said much of the improvement is down to the "hardworking Chinese", with the Golden Week being shortened by 3 days this year boosting chip production of high tech gear in the country.

However, Diesen cautioned that PCs, which represent 43 percent of chips, and consumer devices (19 percent), both showing slight reductions in production rates, with digital TV's especially impacted.

Mobile handsets growth is also said to be slightly slower, though Diesen suggests production in India probably hit a record.

Diesen still expects 2008 global chip sales to rise 3 percent in dollar terms, and 11 percent in volume terms. April sales rose 5.4 percent year/year in dollars, he added.

Other bullet points from Diesen's analysis suggests Japanese production is likely to show a slowdown for this month after relatively strong growth in May, and that global production of cars will see a slowdown, which is bad news for the chip sector since the global automotive industry represents 8 percent of chip usage, and a much higher 18 percent in Europe.

Diesen also noted capital expenditure amongst chipmakers across the world is still falling.

Let u vooral op deze zin: "Diesen still expects 2008 global chip sales to rise 3 percent in dollar terms, and 11 percent in volume terms". 11% hoger dus, en dat is een belangrijk gegeven voor ASML.

Bron: tinyurl.com/4yczst