Global chip sales leaped to a record high of US$21.37 billion in September, boosted by demand for mobile phones, digital music players and PCs, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said Thursday.PC memory chip sales also boosted the chip industry, as vendors add more dynamic RAM (DRAM) to new PCs in order to keep up with the hardware requirements for Microsoft’s Windows Vista OS, SIA said. DRAM sales rose by 10 percent month on month, while microprocessor sales increased by 4 percent. Sales of microprocessors actually declined 11 percent compared to the same month last year, due to the price war going on between Intel and rival Advanced Micro Devices.Mobile phone sales also boosted the chip industry, particularly on demand in India and China, SIA said, where ultra-low-cost handsets have pushed demand. Texas Instruments, the world’s largest maker of chips for handsets, said in late October that ultra-low-cost mobile phones are taking up a much larger share of the overall handset market than before, a trend it expects to continue for a long time. The September sales record was up 9.3 percent over the same month last year, and beat the old record of $20.5 billion reported in August of this year. The SIA predicted a strong fourth quarter for the chip industry as retailers stock shelves ahead of the holiday shopping season. The industry group reiterated its prediction for 9.8 percent global sales growth for the global industry this year.-Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau) Related Links: Chip Sales in Aug. Hit Record $20.5B Weak Computer Sales Slow Chip Industry GrowthCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content feature Key IT initiatives reshape the CIO agenda While cloud, cybersecurity, and analytics remain top of mind for IT leaders, a shift toward delivering business value is altering how CIOs approach key priorities, pushing transformative projects to the next phase. By Mary Pratt May 30, 2023 10 mins IT Strategy IT Leadership opinion Managing IT right starts with rightsizing IT for value While there are few universals when it comes to saying unambiguously what ‘managing IT right’ looks like, knowing how to navigate the limitless possibilities of IT is surely one. By Thornton May May 30, 2023 6 mins Digital Transformation IT Strategy IT Leadership brandpost Designing the campus of the future starts with high-quality 10Gbps connectivity By Huawei May 30, 2023 4 mins Network Architect Networking Devices Networking feature Red Hat embraces hybrid cloud for internal IT The maker of OpenShift has leveraged its own open container offering to migrate business-critical apps to AWS as part of a strategy to move beyond facilitating hybrid cloud for others and capitalize on the model for itself. By Paula Rooney May 29, 2023 5 mins CIO 100 Technology Industry Hybrid Cloud 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