Semiconductor sales rise

The value of worldwide semiconductor sales rose by 4.5% in November to $16.1bn (€12.7bn), the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported today.

The annual growth figure is now at 25.7% and year-to-date sales through November are 17.4% ahead of 2002.

The global wireless market also continued to show strong growth, with flash memory chips sales rising 11.2% and digital signal processors up 3.5% in the month.

"We expect sales for all of 2003 to exceed the current forecast of 15.8% with broad-based strength in all end-markets, especially computation, communications, global consumer and automotive," said George Scalise, the SIA president.