Semiconductor sales to reach $248.8 bln in 2006

Semiconductor Industry Association projects that sales will reach $248.8 bln in 2006, an increase of 9.4%, followed by increases of 10% to $273.8 bln in 2007, 10.8% to $303.4 bln in 2008, and 5.8% to $321 bln in 2009. Unit sales of cell phones are expected to increase by more than 20% in 2006 to more than 1 bln units. With an average semiconductor content of $41 per unit, the cell phone market is now the second-largest consumer of semiconductors, after personal computers. Other rapidly growing product segments include digital cameras with projected 11% unit growth, MP3 players with projected 35% unit growth, digital televisions with projected 56% unit growth, and personal computers with projected 10% unit growth.