Dec. 1, 2008 - Worldwide sales of semiconductors that slowed significantly in September kept on slowing in October, particularly in the Americas region, according to the latest data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

Total chip sales in October (a three-month average) totaled $22.47 billion, down -2.1% from September and -2.4% from October 2008. Year-to-date, chip sales show 2.6% growth from Jan-Oct. 2007, narrowing closer to the group's recently revised outlook of 2.2% growth for 2008,

Taking the volatile memory sector out of the big picture has been one way the SIA shows strength in other areas of the industry -- but in October that metric isn't much better, showing a -1.4% decline in sales M/M and a 3.8% increase Y/Y. DRAM sales sunk 14% during the month vs. a year ago, while NAND flash sales were off by nearly 41%. Units, meanwhile, soared 73% (DRAM 1Gb equivalent) and 125% (2Gb equivalent), respectively.

Geographically, the numbers show a dichotomy. Sequentially, chip sales in the Americas region were flat ($3.21B, 0.0%), while other regions dipped slightly, most notably in the Asia-Pacific region ($11.61B, -3.4%). But compared with a year ago, sales in the Americas plunging nearly -17%, while Europe and Japan suffered mid-single-digit slumps, and the Asia-Pacific region actually climbed 3.7%.