Industry leaders are optimistic global chip sales will improve by the end of the year, but second quarter totals this year were down 17% from the second quarter of 2022. Various chipmakers have noted similar downward Q2 trends in earnings calls in recent days as well, following a pattern of recent quarters.
“Although global semiconductor sales in 2023 remain behind the totals from last year, revenue ticked up in June for the fourth consecutive month and notched solid quarter-over-quarter increases, providing optimism the market will continue to rebound over the second half of the year,” said John Neuffer, CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association in a statement on Friday.
Neuffer noted that Q2 totals were up nearly 5% from Q1. In June, global sales were $41.5 billion, up nearly 2% from May. Month-to-month sales increased 4% in the Americas, 3% in China and nearly 1% in Japan.
The regional impact year-to-year is more dramatic, showing the Americas were down nearly 18% in June compared to a year earlier and down nearly 25% in China. Only Europe showed a year-to-year sales improvement in June of 7%.
The recent earnings season included reports from chipmakers and designers noting continued inventory stockpiles holding back demand for their chips amid low demand for smartphones and PCs, mainly. Many chip CEOs in earnings calls expressed optimism for later in 2023 as well. Intel, AMD and Qualcomm all reported second-quarter declines year-over-year and in some cases investors were concerned about their companies’ forecasts for Q3 and later.
One striking exception was small FPGA player Lattice Semiconductor, which posted a 13th straight quarter of revenue growth with a total $190 million, an 18% increase over a year earlier.
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Over the last month, Intel’s stock was up Friday by 7% while AMD was up nearly 2% and Qualcomm was up 2.5%. By contrast, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector of 30 of the largest US companies in chips dropped 4% over the last week, but the index was up by 2% over the last month. On Friday PHLX stood at $3708.90.
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