SAN JOSE – Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose to $23.1 billion in November, an increase of 2.3% year-over-year, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported.

Sales increased by 0.7% from October, and year-to-date sales of $231 billion are up 2.8% from the same period in 2006.

“Early indications are that consumer products with high semiconductor content such as LCD TVs, PMP and MP3 players, along with digital cameras all sold well in the holiday buying season,” said SIA president George Scalise. “These products are all finishing the year with very healthy unit sales increases. Cellphone unit sales in 2007 will grow by over 20% for the fifth-consecutive year, while unit sales of personal computers will grow by more than 10%.

“While unit demand has been very robust, average selling prices have declined in a number of key product segments. Pricing pressure in the memory sector continues to impact industry sales. DRAM bit shipments, for example, increased by 25% in the three months leading up to mid-December, while ASPs declined by 20% during the same time period.

“Microprocessor sales increased by 5.8% month-on-month and by 7.4% from November of 2006. Strong PC unit demand contributed to a 2.6% sequential increase in microprocessor unit shipments and a 3.2% increase in ASPs.

“Rising energy prices and concerns about sub-prime lending issues do not appear to have had a significant impact on consumer spending on electronic products during the holiday buying season. While total semiconductor sales continue on pace to surpass the record level of 2006, it will take very strong sales in December to meet our forecast of 3.8% growth in 2007,” Scalise concluded.