February sales decline for Semiconductors

In Europe, several of the main product categories grew at a healthy rate in February, despite an overall 1.9% decline compared to January: sensors & actuators, total analog, MOS microcontroller unit and total logic all showed positive results. Looking at worldwide sales for application specific chips, integrated circuits designed for wired communication and IC card applications performed well in February compared to January. On the European market, analog ICs used for automotive and for communications applications were especially strong in February. Overall, European semiconductor sales in February 2012 sales declined by 16.4% on a monthly basis. On a YTD basis semiconductor sales declined by 17.2% versus the same period in the year 2011. The impact of the Euro-US dollar exchange rate on the European sales picture has further over the last month. Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales were 2.072 billion Euros in February 2012, down 1.0% on the previous month and down 14.4% versus the same month a year ago. On a worldwide level, total semiconductor sales in February were, down 1.3% versus the previous month and decreased by 7.3% versus the same month in 2012.