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SAN JOSE – May sales of semiconductors worldwide declined 0.5% sequentially to $18.05 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today. SIA cited a drop in DRAM prices as a major factor. 

May sales were up 4.1% year-over-year.

“Attrition in DRAM prices, which saw a sequential decline of 6%, was the major contributing factor in a slight decline in worldwide semiconductor sales in May,” said SIA president George Scalise in a press release. “DRAMs are one of the largest segments of the total semiconductor market; consequently, price swings in this segment have a large impact on total chip sales.

“Unit sales of cell phones have continued to outpace earlier forecasts, contributing to growth in sales of semiconductor products such as DSPs (digital signal processors) and analog chips,” Scalise said.

“A recent report from Banc of America Securities now projects that handset shipments will grow by 18% to 795 million units in 2005. At the same time, the semiconductor content of cell phones continues to increase with each new generation,” he said. 

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