The usual pattern with semiconductor sales is a slow January, following Christmas, slowing down until spring, before sales start to ignite. Then you have people making purchases that were approved months earlier and consumers getting ready for back to school.
So what happens when semiconductor sales don’t cool off like expected? That’s the question hanging over some analysts, because so far, chip sales are hanging in there instead of cooling down. What does it mean? Hardware Central takes a look.
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported a nice jump in worldwide semiconductor sales in March, a time when sales usually contract following the Christmas rush. But that means for the rest of the year, when sales should be taking off, depends on which analyst you ask.
According to the SIA, sales in March were $23.1 billion, a 4.6 percent increase from February’s $22.0 billion. When compared against March of 2009, sales leaped by 58.3 percent over March 2009 sales of $14.6 billion, a jump made easier as the industry recovered from the global recession.
Sales for the first quarter of 2010 were $69.2 billion compared to $43.7 billion for the first quarter of 2009.