Brisk demand for memory fuels chip sales in January

San Jose (CA) - Worldwide semiconductor sales showed a substantial jump in January, ending up at $21.47 billion, a 9.2% improvement over January 2006, which had sales of $19.66 billion. Growth drivers were once again cellphones and DRAM.

The start into the new year turned out to be much more successful than previous estimates previously published by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Cellphone sales appear to be still heating up, even with annual sales that have broken the 1 billion unit barrier in 2006 for the first time. The segment is estimated to post a low double-digit growth this year and is likely to remain a fairly safe revenue source for chip companies.

Cellphones accounted for about $40 billion in semiconductor demand in 2006.

Coinciding with the launch of Microsoft new operating system, DRAM sales surged in January. According to the SIA, DRAM revenues were $3.6 billion, up 72% year-on-year and 2.3% sequentially. "The introduction of the Microsoft Vista operating system, which requires substantial additional memory, may have contributed to the increase in demand," the SIA said.