SAN JOSE, CA – The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) released its annual forecast of global semiconductor sales, projecting that consumer demand for electronic products will drive sales to $321 billion in 2009. The SIA forecast projects a compound annual growth rate of 9% for the forecast period between 2006 and 2009.

The new forecast projects that sales will reach $248.8 billion in 2006, an increase of 9.4%, followed by increases of 10% to $273.8 billion in 2007, 10.8% to $303.4 billion in 2008, and 5.8% to $321 billion in 2009.

“Consumer purchases of a broad range of electronic products continue to grow as the leading driver of demand for semiconductors,” said SIA President George Scalise. “Traditional consumer electronics products…now account for nearly 20% of all semiconductor consumption. The newest, most advanced consumer electronics products tend to have high semiconductor content. Consumers are also the principal buyers of cellphones, which drive another 20% of semiconductor sales…consumers account for more than half of all semiconductor consumption.”

Unit sales of cellphones are expected to increase by more than 20% in 2006 to more than one billion units. With an average semiconductor content of $41 per unit, the cellphone market is now the second largest consumer of semiconductors, after personal computers.

The forecast projects growth in all regional markets. The Asia-Pacific region will continue to be the fastest-growing market and is projected to reach 48.2% of the worldwide market in 2009.