Semiconductor European sales figures in Q1 2016

Looking at the semiconductor market in March, the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA) were able to show that sales in Europe reached US$ 2.667bn. This represents a 0.1% increase compared to February 2016, when sales reached US$ 2.663bn. On a worldwide basis, semiconductor sales in March were US$ 26.093bn, up 0.3% from February and up 5.8% from March 2015.

All growth figures represent a three month rolling average. Most of the main product categories grew steadily in March over February. Sales of discrete semiconductor devices increased by 10.3%, sales of sensors and actuators increased by 9.9%, and sales of analogue and logic devices grew by 7.5% and 6.7% respectively. Semiconductor devices designed to be in specific applications also exhibited strong growth in Europe, growing by 6.8% in March compared to February. Worldwide, consumer and automotive were the strongest segments in March for application specific chips.

In March, the exchange rate affected the European sales picture when comparing market growth in Euros and in Dollars. Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales were € 2.419bn in March 2016, down 0.6% versus the previous month.