The representing body of the chip industry, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), reported a disappointing result for August 2012.
The organization said that global semiconductor sales were $24.30 billion in August, or about 0.1 percent above the July result of $24.27 billion. Compared to August 2011, sales declined by 3.2 percent from $25.1 billion. For the year, chip sales are down 4.6 percent.
"Global semiconductor sales have held steady in recent months despite strong macroeconomic headwinds, but these challenges have hampered growth," said Brian Toohey, president and CEO of the SIA, in a statement. "With Election Day fast approaching, candidates should have a vigorous discussion about enacting government policies to reduce business uncertainty, accelerate the economic recovery and keep America at the forefront of innovation."
According to the organization chip sales declined across all geographic regions year over year, with substantyial drops taking place in Europe and the Americas.
why upgrade?
point i was trying to make is that a 25$ chip doesn't need to sell 8 of itself to equal a 200$ chip. the 200$ chip may be in the hole 1 billion $ due to r&d and is only pulling a small profit per chip while the 25$ chip may only be in the hole 100 million and is pulling about the same profit per chip as the 200$ one.
What is your point? The article is about revenue (i.e., sales). Profit was never discussed.