First quarter results confirm the expectation of “headwinds” expressed by SEMI at a recent event. Second quarter now starts with many hot topics and promising innovations – from design to manufacturing.
Wafer and chip sales down in Q1 2019
According to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group, worldwide silicon wafer area shipments dropped 5.6 percent during the first quarter of 2019 compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 and are now at their lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2017. A bigger downturn has been reported by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA): worldwide sales of semiconductors totalled $96.8 billion during the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of 15.5 percent over the previous quarter and 13 percent less than the first quarter of 2018. Global sales for the month of March 2019 were $32.3 billion, a dip of 1.8 percent compared to the previous month's total and 13 percent less than sales from March 2018.
