WASHINGTON — The 90-day moving average sales of semiconductors worldwide fell 14.6% in April, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said.

Sales for the period were $32.1 billion, down 0.4% sequentially.

Monthly sales are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. SIA endorsed the forecast.

A newly released WSTS industry forecast projects annual global sales will decrease 12.1% in 2019 from the 2018 sales total of $468.8 billion, then increase 5.4% in 2020.

“The global semiconductor market continued to sputter in April, as year-to-year and month-to-month sales remained negative,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, SIA. “Sales were down compared to last year across all major regional markets and semiconductor product categories. Global sales are projected to decrease by 12% this year, then rebound somewhat with moderate growth expected next year.”

Regionally, sales increased slightly on a month-to-month basis in Japan (2.5%) and China (1.8%), but decreased in Europe (-1.2%), Asia Pacific/all other (-2%), and the Americas (-3%). On a year-to-year basis, sales were down across all regional markets: Europe (-8%), Asia Pacific/all other (-10.7%), China (-10.9%), Japan (-10.9%), and the Americas (-29.5%).

Last year was the industry’s highest-ever annual total revenue. WSTS projects year-to-year decreases across all regional markets for 2019: Europe (-3.1%), Asia Pacific (including China) (-9.6%), Japan (-9.7%), and the Americas (-23.6%). In 2020, the global market is projected to bounce back somewhat, posting moderate growth of 5.4%.