KUALA LUMPUR (March 7): Global semiconductor industry sales fell 18.5% year-on-year in January to US$41.3 billion from US$50.7 billion a year earlier.

In a statement last Friday (March 3), the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said the figure was 5.2% lower than the December 2022 total of US$43.6 billion.

Monthly sales are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation and represent a three-month moving average.

SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said despite record-high sales in 2022, the global semiconductor market cooled considerably during the second half of the year, and that trend continued during the first month of 2023.

“Despite the current short term cyclical downturn, the long term outlook for the semiconductor market remains strong due to the ever increasing role of chips in powering the critical technologies of today and tomorrow,” he said.

SIA said that regionally, month-to-month sales increased slightly in January in Europe (0.6%), but decreased in Japan (2.1%), Asia Pacific/All Other (2.7%), the Americas (7.9%), and China (8.0%).

Year-to-year sales ticked up in Europe (0.9%) and Japan (0.7%), but fell in the Americas (12.4%), Asia Pacific/All Other (19.5%), and China (31.6%).