SAN JOSE – January sales of semiconductors rose 9.2% worldwide to $21.47 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported. January sales dipped 1.2% from December, which the trade group chalked up to seasonality. SIA reiterated its forecast for 2007, noting falling inventory levels.

“January semiconductor sales reflected historical seasonal patterns, with strong year-on-year sales growth coupled with a modest sales sequential decline,” said SIA president George Scalise, in a statement. “The semiconductor industry continues to benefit from consumer confidence, which has been buoyed by recent gains in both personal and disposable income.
 
“Concerns about inventories in the previous quarter appear to have worked themselves out, and the forecast for unit growth in the range of 10 to 15% for 2007 appears to be realistic."
 
Cellphone demand is buoying chip sales, Scalise said. In 2006, cellphone shipments reached nearly 1.02 billion units. The average semiconductor content of a cellphone is approximately $40 per unit, driving more than $40 billion of semiconductor demand. Sales of MP3 players and digital cameras remained strong as well. U.S. unit sales of both products grew by nearly 40%.
 
Some $3.6 billion worth of DRAMs were sold in January, up 72% year-on-year and 2.3% sequentially. The introduction of the Microsoft Vista operating system, which requires substantial additional memory, may have contributed to the increase in demand, SIA said.