Semiconductor sales up 11.3% in November

Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose 11.3 per cent to $22.7 billion in November from a year earlier, as economic confidence led to increased sales of consumer products such as digital cameras.

Global chip sales rose 3.1 percent in November from October, the fifth straight month of record sales, the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association said today in a Business Wire statement.

"Consumer purchases of electronic products remained strong and drove semiconductor sales to record levels,'' SIA President George Scalise said in the statement. "2007 is shaping up to be another good year with a forecast of 10 percent growth over 2006,'' he said.

For the first 11 months of 2006, global semiconductor sales were $225.1 billion, an increase of 9.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, the association said.

Sales of semiconductors slipped 0.5 percent in the Americas in November from the previous month, while sales grew 4.4 per cent in the Asia Pacific region, the group said. Sales of semiconductors in Europe grew 4 per cent month-on-month and increased 2.6 percent in Japan.