Image: © Remigiusz/Stock.adobe.com
New data from a US trade association shows chip sales are on the rise again after a turbulent period for the sector hit by an ongoing US-China trade war.
The global semiconductor industry enters the new year on a high as latest figures show chip sales increased year-on-year for the first time in nearly 18 months last November.
According to data published by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global chip sales increased by 5.3pc in November compared to the same month in 2022. This coincides with the global rush to develop AI, a technology that is heavily reliant on advanced semiconductors.
Chip sales were also up 2.9pc month-on-month in November 2023, totalling around $48bn. John Neuffer, president and chief executive of the SIA, said that this is an indication that the global chip market is “continuing to gain strength” as we enter the new year.
“Looking ahead, the global semiconductor market is projected to experience double-digit growth in 2024,” Neuffer said in a statement published yesterday (9 January).
China leads the world in semiconductor sales growth at 7.6pc with the Asia-Pacific region performing strongly at 7.1pc. Sales in Europe were up 5.6pc while the Americas saw a more modest 3.5pc growth. Japan was the only major market that saw negative growth, at -2.8pc.
While Europe performed well on a year-to-year basis, this trend is not reflected in monthly growth. The continent saw the biggest drop among all markets on a month-to-month basis at -2pc, followed by Japan at -0.7pc. China, the Americas and Asia-Pacific all grew between 3pc and 5pc.
The SIA said it represents 99pc of the US semiconductor industry by revenue and nearly two-thirds of non-US chip firms. Based in Washington DC, the trade association compiles semiconductor sales data annually and publishes them at the beginning of the year.
Promising growth figures come at a time when the semiconductor industry has been going through somewhat of a lull. Increasing trade war tensions between the US and China have resulted in tech restrictions and outright bans between the two countries.
For instance, US sanctions on Huawei in 2019 led to the Chinese company opting to hoard components to guard against being cut off from its primary semiconductor suppliers.
The US and its allies believe China is importing advanced chip technologies from the West crucial to the development of AI, which could be deployed for various military uses.
Therefore, chip manufacturing became a major focus of these geopolitical tensions in 2023, when the US and several other countries put sanctions in place to curb exports of chip-related technologies to China.
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