Semiconductor Association Sees Sales Declines and Uncertainties (INTC, ADI, AMD, QCOM, MU, TXN)

A fresh report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which is representative of U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, showed that worldwide semiconductor sales posted a slight drop of 0.1% to $24.38 billion, versus the prior month of May, and was down by 2% from the June 2011 figure. The only good news is that the year-over-year decrease was smaller than it has been since October 2011.

This report can affect the outlook for giants (and SIA members) such as Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) and others.

The SIA titled this June report “Global Semiconductor Sales Remain Steady in June” but the real numbers indicate a decline, and the SIA even said that the industry “continues to navigate the turbulent global economy better than most sectors, but macroeconomic uncertainties are limiting overall recovery and growth.” It pointed to Japan and Asia Pacific showing sequential increases, but showed continued weakness in Europe and the Americas.

Regional semiconductor sales reports versus the prior month were as follows:

• Increased on a sequential monthly basis in Japan (2%) and Asia Pacific (0.6%)
• Declined in Europe (-0.7%) and the Americas (-3.6%).

Regional semiconductor sales reports versus June 2011 were as follows:

• Increased in Japan (3.7%) and Asia Pacific (1.0%)
• Fell steeply in Americas (-8.1%) and Europe (-12.1%).

Keep in mind that we have already seen much of this in semiconductor and technology earnings reports and guidance. Still, this sort of quantifies the data on a sectorwide basis.

FULL JUNE SIA REPORT

JON C. OGG