Worldwide semiconductor sales rose 4.1 percent in May, helped by higher demand for chips used in cellphones, according to data from World Semiconductor Trade Statistics. Sales fell 0.5 percent from the previous month.
Worldwide sales climbed to US$18.05 billion in May from a year earlier, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said in a report on Saturday, citing World Semiconductor Trade Statistics. Sales declined from April as prices for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips slipped, SIA said.
SIA, which is based in San Jose, California, predicted on June 8 that global chip sales would jump 6 percent this year to US$226 billion because of demand for personal computers and cellphones, revising a previous forecast for little to no change in sales.
"DRAMs are one of the largest segments of the total semiconductor market; consequently, price swings in this segment have a large impact on total chip sales," SIA president George Scalise said in the statement.
Separately, Samsung Electronics Co, the world's second-largest semiconductor maker, said it plans to spend 636.7 billion won (US$610 million) to expand production of memory chips.
The company will add lines making semiconductors at its plant in Hwaseong, southwest of Seoul, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said today in a regulatory filing.
Samsung plans to increase investments into chips by almost 10 percent to 6 trillion won this year, the company said in April.
South Korean regulations require listed companies to publicly disclose investment plans of at least 100 billion won (US$96 million).
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