Semiconductor sales grew 9.4 percent year over year in May, fueled by strong demand for mobile phones and consumer electronics, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said Monday.Global chip sales rose to US$19.7 billion in May, up from $18.1 billion during the same month last year, and also up slightly from April.Healthy sales of personal computers also contributed to strong chip demand, the SIA said, pumping up dynamic RAM growth to 13.7 percent in May. But heavy demand for chips isn’t driving up prices. Users are benefiting from strong competition, since the average price of a notebook computer dropped below $1,000 for the first time, the SIA noted. Chip sales should remain strong going forward. “We expect to see global semiconductor sales running nine percent to 10 percent ahead of last year’s pace for the next several months. End market demand, inventory levels, and capacity utilization all indicate generally favorable conditions for the industry,” said George Scalise, president of SIA, in a statement.The industry association, which has represented chip companies since 1977, in June raised its forecast for 2006 worldwide chip sales growth to 9.8 percent from 7.9 percent. -Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau)Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by FPT Software Time for New Partnership Paradigms to Be Future-fit By Veronica Lew Dec 06, 2023 5 mins Vendors and Providers brandpost Sponsored by BMC Why CIOs should prioritize AIOps in 2024 AIOps empowers IT to manage services by incorporating AI/ML into operations. By Jeff Miller Dec 06, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership opinion Generative AI in enterprises: LLM orchestration holds the key to success In the dynamic landscape of AI, LLMs represent a pivotal breakthrough. Unlike traditional AI, which demands frequent data updates, LLMs possess the ability to learn and adapt in real-time. This mirrors human learning and positions LLMs as essential f By Shail Khiyara Dec 06, 2023 10 mins Generative AI Artificial Intelligence brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks How gen AI is joining the holiday shopping season One year after the launch of ChatGPT, the retail industry is embracing generative AI to deliver a variety of benefits By Elliot Markowitz Dec 06, 2023 4 mins Generative AI Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe