Chip sales increased in July

The 12-month average, which compares order growth to the previous year, remained relatively flat but according to ECA's report Electronic component orders continued to climb in July. Orders began picking up momentum in the last weeks of June and continued throughout July, maintaining a pattern of summer acceleration seen in past years. “It looks as if we are on the way to the third straight year of order growth," says Bob Willis, ECA president. Not surprisingly, the greatest growth in electronic equipment over the next four years – almost 10 percent – will take place in China according to DECISION, an electronics market consultancy. The European market is expected to grow by 4.7 percent, North America by 3.6 percent, and the rest of the world by 7.8 percent. Worldwide growth will average 6.1 percent according to DECISION.