SAN JOSE, CA – Worldwide sales of semiconductors declined 2.4% in October to $22.5 billion compared to the same month last year, says the Semiconductor Industry Association. October sales were down 2.1% sequentially. 
 
“The slowdown in worldwide semiconductor sales that became evident in September continued in October,” said SIA president George Scalise.
 
Sales for the first 10 months of 2008 were $216 billion, up 2.6% compared to the same period in 2007. Excluding memory products, which have been under severe price pressure throughout 2008, industry sales increased 3.8% compared to October 2007, but declined 1.4% sequentially, according to SIA.
 
Sales of both DRAMs and NAND flash declined significantly year-over-year as a result of pricing pressure. DRAM sales in October were 14% lower than one year ago, while NAND flash sales were off nearly 41%; during the same time period DRAM 1 Gigabit equivalent units increased 73%, while sales of 2 Gigabit equivalent NAND units grew 123%.
 
Lower end-product demand could slow semiconductor growth in the new year, too. “The worldwide financial turmoil is expected to continue to impact demand for semiconductors as we enter 2009,” Scalise said. “For 2009, PC unit shipments are forecast to decline by 5% and cellphone unit shipments are projected to be down by 9%.”
 
PCs and cellphones account for approximately 60% of total demand for semiconductors, he said.