SAN JOSE – Worldwide sales of semiconductors continued on a record pace, reaching $20.4 billion in November, according to SIA. Worldwide semiconductor sales rose 7.2% from last year and were up 1.7% sequentially. 
“Strong holiday season sales of consumer products such as cell phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players drove record sales of semiconductors in November,” said SIA president George Scalise in a press statement.

Sales of flash memory devices were up 33% from November 2004 and ASICs were up nearly 34%. Those two  component types are considered proxies for consumer sales.

“The main story of 2005 is one of the growing importance of consumers in driving sales of semiconductors,” Scalise said. “A recently published list of the ‘greatest gadgets’ of the past 50 years was dominated by products made possible by semiconductors. The growing pervasiveness of microchips in everyday products and a strong underlying economy have combined to create a very favorable climate for the microelectronics industry."

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