Semiconductor sales surge
The worldwide jump of 13 percent--led by a 19 percent rise in the U.S.--tracks the growth of PC sales.
July 1997 sales of semiconductors came to $11.6 billion, an increase over sales of $10.2 billion for the same month a year earlier, the trade group said in a press release.
Semiconductor sales also continue to increase month-to-month. In June, worldwide semiconductor sales came to $11.4 billion. The July figures represent an increase of 1.8 percent.
In the Asian-Pacific market sales were up 16 percent from last year, and in Europe they were up by 12 percent. Japan saw the lowest increase with just under 5 percent.
The increase roughly resembles the growth the PC market is enjoying. For the second quarter of 1997, PC shipments rose by 17 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago, according to Dataquest. That came to more than 18.9 million PCs sold, up from 16.1 million units for the second quarter of 1996.
Most of the PC growth came from the U.S. market, where unit growth topped 21.9 percent.