Driven by the huge demand for electronic goods, the global semiconductor industry grew 1.5% and reached $20.44 Billion mark in February 2008.

According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), sales recorded by the global semiconductor industry grew by 1.5% in February 2008, amounted to $20.44 Billion against $20.14 Billion in February 2007, as reported by Reuters.

SIA disclosed that Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), or memory chip, revenue fell by over 40% YOY, though the shipment of semiconductors increased by 43%. In February 2008, average selling price of DRAMs fell to around 60% whereas shipment of entire range of semiconductor products went up by 11.6% reflecting the potential of end markets that could boost the demand for microchips in future.

The global semiconductor industry is waving high on the crest of rising demand for electronic goods, including MP3 players, televisions, digital cameras, wireless handset and automobile devices. Besides, there is fundamental change in R&D investment and capital investment that is taking the global semiconductor industry to new heights.

Additionally, competitive pricing system significantly affected the gross margins of the industry. Now the industry revenue system is shifting from computing to lower price and high demand consumer goods market that features economic and seasonal cyclicality. Economic prosperity along with rising population of educated people are increasing the demand for electronic goods worldwide, thereby increasing the industry revenue.

With the introduction of several new technologies like Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), and many other technologies, the global semiconductor industry is experiencing strong demand.

Among all the regions, Asia-Pacific is guiding the semiconductor industry to high growth as the labor is cheaper here than other regions. Hence, the manufacturing cost of semiconductor goods is exceptionally low that makes the products low cost. Consequently, semiconductor manufacturers are quite satisfied with current response from the market.

According to a Research Analyst at RNCOS, “The economies across the world are experiencing boom, and are impacting the global semiconductor industry in the form of high demand. Moreover, with the evolution and introduction of new technologies in the telecom industry, it is expected that the growth will spurt in the global semiconductor industry.”