Global semiconductor reached record levels for the second consecutive year, the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA) reported on 5 February 2018 based on the latest WSTS figures. The European semiconductor market also saw its highest ever annual sales in 2017.
In 2017 global sales amounted to US$ 412.221 billion, a 21.6%-increase from the US$ 338.931 billion reported in 2016. In December, global sales reached US$ 37.985 billion, up 0.8% from November 2017 and up 22.5% compared to the same month in 2016. Main drivers of the record-breaking growth were memory devices, sensors & actuators, analog devices, and logic devices. Application-specific chips also contributed strongly to the market surge.
All figures represent a three-month rolling average. In Europe, semiconductor sales reached US$ 38.311 billion, an increase of 17.1% compared to the 2016 sales of US$ 32.707 billion. In December, European sales amounted to US$ 3.371 billion, an increase of 20.2% versus the same month one year ago and a slight 1.6%-decrease compared to November 2017. Exchange rate effects were more visible than before when comparing market growth in Euros and in Dollars, both on a monthly and a yearly basis. Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales were 2.863 billion Euros in December 2017, down 1.3% versus November and up 10.2% versus the same month a year ago. On a total-year basis, the market increased by 14.7% from 2016 and amounted to 33.926 billion Euros. Overall, the exchange rate effects in 2017 amounted for a difference of -2.0%.