World Chip Sales Return to Growth in Sign of Improving Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Global chip sales rose for the first time in more than a year in the latest indication of demand starting to rebound on the back of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Semiconductor revenue worldwide amounted to $48 billion in November last year in a 5.3% increase from a year earlier, according to the Washington-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). From a month earlier, sales rose 2.9%, a more moderate increase compared with October.

Semiconductors are key components in a world that’s increasingly reliant on digital products and services. The industry has struggled in the past year because of soft demand for key markets like smartphones and higher interest rates that have weighed on economic growth and trade.

Samsung Electronics Company, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, this week posted its sixth straight quarter of declining operating profit while revenue slid. Even though memory forms just one segment of the global chip market, it indicates the return to growth is likely to be uneven among manufacturers.

China led the rise in global chip sales in November, with the world’s second-largest economy buying 7.6% more than a year earlier. Chip sales to the Americas gained 3.5% while those to Europe rose 5.6%. Sales to Japan decreased 2.8%, according to the release.

The SIA says it represents 99% of the US chip industry by revenue and almost two-thirds of non-US chip firms. The sales it releases are compiled by World Semiconductor Trade Statistics.