Global chip sales dropped around 30 per cent on the year in March, with sales of $44 billion down from $62.8 billion a year earlier.

According to the San Jose, California-based Semiconductor Industry Association, in its latest report which was released Friday, March sales came in at $14.7 billion, a slight gain from February’s $14.2 billion. Nevertheless, the year on year figures show a grim picture.

Sales in Japan fell sharply, hurt by a drop in the country’s economic output, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said.

“The global chip industry continues to reflect the influence of the worldwide economic slowdown,” Scalise said. “We expect economic stimulus measures in the United States combined with other countries will begin to impact sales as we enter 2010.”

Image by bitterjug under Creative Commons.

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