KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 2): The global semiconductor industry posted sales totaling US$335.2 billion in 2015, a slight decrease of 0.2% compared to the 2014 total, which was the industry’s highest-ever sales total, according to the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).  

In a statement on its website yesterday, the SIA said global sales for the month of December 2015 reached US$27.6 billion, down 4.4% compared to the previous month and 5.2% lower than sales from December 2014.

It said fourth quarter sales of US$82.9 billion were 5.2% lower than the total of US$87.4 billion from the fourth quarter of 2014.

The SIA said several semiconductor product segments stood out in 2015.

It explained that logic was the largest semiconductor category by sales with US$90.8 billion in 2015, or 27% of the total semiconductor market.

The SIA said memory (US$77.2 billion) and micro-ICs (US$61.3 billion) – a category that includes microprocessors – rounded out the top three segments in terms of total sales.

“Optoelectronics was the fastest growing segment, increasing 11.3% in 2015.

“Other product segments that posted increased sales in 2015 include sensors and actuators, which reached US$8.8 billion in sales for a 3.7% annual increase, NAND flash memory (US$28.8 billion/2.2% increase), and analog (US$45.2 billion/1.9% increase).

It said that regionally, annual sales increased 7.7% in China, leading all regional markets.

It said all other regional markets – the Americas (-0.8%), Europe (-8.5%), Japan (-10.7%), and Asia Pacific/All Other (-0.2%) – saw decreased sales compared to 2014.

SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said despite formidable headwinds, the global semiconductor industry posted solid sales in 2015, although falling just short of the record total from 2014.

“Factors that limited more robust sales in 2015 include softening demand, the strength of the dollar, and normal market trends and cyclicality.

“In spite of these challenges, modest market growth is projected for 2016.”