Year-to-date sales to the end of August were $170.2bn, an increase of 4.5 per cent from the same period of 2007 when sales were $162.9 billion, according to SIA.

"Global sales of semiconductors remained strong in August," said SIA president George Scalise, "sales of personal computers and cellular handsets continued to be the principal drivers of demand. Continuing price pressure on DRAMs and NAND flash memory dampened overall industry growth."

"Excluding memory products, industry sales were up by 11.4 per cent year-on-year in August", added Scalise, "year-to-date sales were 4.5 per cent ahead of last year and remain in line with the SIA mid-year forecast of 4.3 percent growth in 2008."

According to a recent Credit Suisse report, PC unit sales are projected to grow by more than 13 per cent in 2008.

Worldwide unit sales of cellular handsets remained strong - especially in emerging markets. Unit sales of cellular handsets are forecast to grow about ten per cent in 2008, with the strongest growth coming from emerging markets.

Adding a plug for the Wall Street bail-out bill, Scalise added: "With consumer purchases now driving more than half of semiconductor sales, consumer confidence is essential to the entire supply chain of the global technology sector thus it is essential for Congress to move swiftly to restore stability to the U.S. financial system."

Updated: In Europe, the European Semiconductor Industry Association reported that August sales grew 1.7 per cent compared to July to reach $34.5bn. So far this year, European semiconductor sales to the end of August this year were up 1.2 per cent compared to the first eight months of 2007.

The main drivers were CMOS standard cells and PLDs which grew 15 per cent. Power transistors grew 3.5 per cent after three months of decline. IGBTs grew 8 per compared with July, and analogue ICs for communications grew 7 per cent.

Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales in August 2008 were 2.2bn, up 2.9 per cent on July and down ten per cent on August 2007 and down 11.5 per cent on a year-to-date basis.

See also: Mannerisms, the blog of David Manners. Updated twice daily, it's the distinctive, entertaining, authoritative and never dull commentary on the semiconductor industry, from someone who knows. Sign up for the Mannerisms eNewsletter.

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