In another indication that the recovery in the tech industry is catching hold, the global semiconductor market in November 2009 saw its first year-over-year sales increase for the first time in a year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
According to numbers released by the SIA Jan. 4, worldwide sales of semiconductors in November jumped to $22.6 billion, 3.7 percent higher than in October 2009 and 8.5 percent higher than in November 2008.
It was also the ninth consecutive month of sequential growth.
Those numbers reflected better-than-expected sales of IT and consumer products in the last part of 2009, according to SIA President George Scalise.
“Sales of personal computers continue to strengthen in line with recent projections and appear to signal the beginning of recovery of demand from the business sector,” Scalise said in a statement.
He touted Microsoft’s release of its new Windows 7 OS in October for helping drive the resurgence in business PC sales. The sales of handsets will be even with 2008 levels, and increases in the consumer sales were driven in part by LCD TVs, which saw an increase of 25 to 30 percent in 2009.
The Americas region was the key driver in year-to-year sales in November, with a 25.9 percent increase. Asia Pacific also saw a rise in sales, though both Europe and Japan saw their markets decline, according to the SIA.
All four regions showed sequential growth.
Still, the semiconductor industry saw a 13.2 percent sales decline in the first 11 months of 2009, coming in at $202.1 billion. Through November 2008, chip sales were $232.7 billion, the SIA said.