The fourth quarter is, on average, down less than one percent from the third quarter and the steep quarterly fall, largely expected after weak figures reported for October and November indicates that the chip market remains slow, although this was largely driven by weakness in DRAM prices and the PC market more generally.
The value of the total discrete, optoelectronic and sensors market grew by 8.3 percent and MOS microprocessors grew by 7.5 percent compared to 2010, according to the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA). Most other semiconductor categories showed annual growth, ESIA said.
On a geographic basis in 2011, the Americas and Asia Pacific regions showed annual growth while the European and Japanese chip markets contracted. Asia Pacific was the largest market at $164.03 billion up 2.5 percent on 2010. The Americas region was $55.20 billion, up 2.8 percent. The Japanese market, at $42.90 billion for 2011, shrank by 7.9 percent, while the European market was $37.39 billion, down on 2010 by 1.7 percent.
