SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Global chip sales fell 2.4 percent in October from a year ago as prices declined for chips used in digital cameras, cell phones and music players amid the worldwide financial crisis.
The Semiconductor Industry Association said Monday that the impact is expected to be felt into next year.
Chip sales dropped to $22.5 billion in October from $23 billion a year earlier. Sales for the month were 2.1 percent lower than the $23 billion in September, the SIA said.
Falling prices for memory chips were behind much of the decline. Excluding memory, sales rose 3.8 percent from a year ago. Sales of NAND flash memory, used in digital cameras, cell phones and music players, fell 41 percent in dollar terms even as they rose 123 percent in terms of memory capacity shipped, the SIA said.
Sales of DRAM, the memory chips used in computers, were down 14 percent from a year ago, while the capacity of the sold chips was up 73 percent.
"The worldwide financial turmoil is expected to continue to impact demand for semiconductors as we enter 2009," said SIA President George Scalise in a statement. "For 2009 PC unit shipments are forecast to decline by 5 percent and cell phone unit shipments are projected to be down by 9 percent. PCs and cell phones account for approximately 60 percent of total demand for semiconductors."
