KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): Global sales of semiconductors rose 21% year-on-year in February to US$36.8 billion from US$30.4 billion a year earlier, according to the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Assosciation (SIA).

In a statement on its website yesterday, SIA said the February sales were 2.2% lower month-on-month from the January total of US$37.6 billion, reflecting typical seasonal market trends.

All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said the global semiconductor market continued to demonstrate substantial and consistent growth in February, notching its 19th consecutive month of year-to-year sales increases and growing by double-digit percentages across all major regional markets.

“The Americas stood out once again, with sales increasing nearly 40 percent compared to last year, and sales were up year-to-year across all major semiconductor product categories,” he said.

SIA said that year-to-year sales increased significantly across all regions: the Americas (37.7%), Europe (21.7%), China (16.4%), Asia Pacific/All Other (16.2%), and Japan (15.5%).

Month-to-month sales increased slightly in Europe (0.9%), but fell somewhat in Japan (-0.9%), Asia Pacific/All Other (-1.5%), China (-2.6%), and the Americas (-4.3%).