Global Semiconductor Sales Hit Record $338.9 Billion in 2016

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Global semiconductor sales reached $338.931 billion in 2016, the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA) reported on 3 February, based on the latest WSTS data. Figures show a 1.1% increase worldwide compared to 2015. Region-wise growth was registered in China (up 9.2% in 2016) and Japan (up 3.8% in 2016).

The American and European and Asia Pacific markets (excluding China) decreased overall in 2016. All growth figures represent a three-month rolling average.

Looking at the European semiconductor market, semiconductor sales in Europe reached $32.707 billion in 2016. Sales for some of the most important product categories increased significantly in Europe in  2016, namely discretes, sensors and actuators, analog devices as well as logic devices. However, weakening demand for some major drivers of semiconductor sales, mainly microprocessor, microcontroller and memory devices resulted in a sharp drop in the overall 2016 European sales.

December sales in Europe amounted to US$ 2.804 billion, up 1.3% compared to the same month in 2015. This year-on-year increase was mainly driven by high growth in sales of sensors & actuators, as well as of logic devices, analog devices and memories. 

Exchange rate effects were significant in December 2016, when comparing market growth in Euros and in Dollars.  Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales were 2.599 billion Euros in December 2016, down 0.8% versus the previous month and an increase of 2.8% versus the same month a year ago.