European semiconductor sales increased in January

This is a pretty unusual seasonal pattern as in the past decade in January the market has always declined in January versus the previous month. In Euro, the market grew in Europe by 1.6% in January compared to the previous month on a three-month rolling average basis. Sales in dollar terms on the European Semiconductor market increased 0.3% in January compared to the previous month. Overall, European semiconductor sales in January 2011 amounted to USD 3.310 billion. On a YTD as well as on a monthly basis semiconductor sales increased by 15.4% in the first month of 2011 versus the same period in the year 2010. The exchange rate of the Euro compared to the US dollar lowered slightly its impact on the European sales picture in the last month. Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales were EUR 2.468 billion in January 2011, up 1.6% on the previous month and up 23.2% versus the same month a year ago. On a worldwide basis, semiconductor sales in January 2011 were USD 25.522 billion, up 1.5% versus the previous month. This results in an increase of 14.0% versus the same month in 2010.