Q2 results for 2005 published by WSTS

The European market in the second quarter of 2005 was down 0.3% from the same quarter last year, according to WSTS data published today. The figure worldwide was -0,8% .

Best performing products included Microprocessors (+12% compared to the same quarter last year), optoelectronics (+25%) and special purpose logic applications (+11.2%).

Price dynamics severely influenced the performance of memory products. This was most acute for DRAMs, -16% compared to the second quarter of 2004 and -18% from the previous quarter.

Discretes also demonstrated a downward trend, Power transistors were down 14 percentage points from the second quarter of 2004.

European Semiconductor sales in June 2005 amounted to US$ 3.115 billion according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), down -2.5% versus the previous month. This corresponds to a -0.3% decline compared to the same month last year. On a year-to-date basis, semiconductor sales increased by +3.6% versus the same period in 2004.

The exchange rate of the Euro compared to the US$ still has an impact on the growth data at this time but with a diminishing trend. Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales in June were EURO 2.481 billion, an increase of +0.6% versus previous month and a decline of -4.1% versus the same month a year ago. On a year-to-date basis, semiconductor sales show a decline of -1.1% versus the same period in 2004.

On a worldwide basis, semiconductor sales in June were US$ 17.980 billion, down slightly -0.5% versus the previous month. This results in an increase of +0.8% versus the same month in 2004 and on a year-to-date basis it results in a growth rate of +6.5%.