Mark Szakonyi, Associate Editor | Jun 13, 2012 1:17PM EDT
The ailing global air cargo industry got a little help from the semiconductor sector in April, as international sales of the foundation technology, typically shipped via air, rose 3.4 percent from March.
The rise to $24.1 billion in semiconductor sales in April compared to $23.3 billion in March was the largest month-to-month growth since May 2010, but sales were 2.9 percent below the same month a year ago, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. The association’s members, which make up about 90 percent of the industry, gain roughly 82 percent of their revenue from exports.
“The outlook for the global semiconductor industry continues to be one of cautious optimism,” said Brian Toohey, SIA president and CEO. “We are beginning to see an encouraging trend of modest, sequential growth and we anticipate this trend will continue during the rest of this year, with stronger growth predicted for 2013 and beyond. But that optimism continues to be tempered by macroeconomic factors.”
Semiconductor sales rose 5.6 percent in the Americas, 5.4 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, and 1.8 percent in Europe. Sales slipped 1.8 percent in Japan.
World Semiconductor Trade Statistics expects sales this year to expand 0.4 percent year-over-year to $301 billion. WSTS anticipates that year-over-year sales growth will hit 7.2 percent in 2013 and ease to 4.4 percent in 2014.
Contact Mark Szakonyi at mszakonyi@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @szakonyi_joc.