Global chip sales rise 7.6 percent in July: industry group

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global semiconductor sales rose 7.6 percent in July from the previous year, helped by strong growth in consumer electronics, personal computers and cell phones, an industry group said.

Worldwide sales were $22.178 billion, up from $20.603 billion a year ago, the Semiconductor Industry Association said in a monthly report.

"LCD TV units are projected to increase 32 percent this year, and digital set top boxes and digital still cameras will both be up around 20 percent," said SIA President George Scalise in a statement.

He added that the industry is enjoying the benefits of the strong 3.3 percent second quarter gross domestic product growth in the U.S, and continued strength in world markets.

Excluding memory products, semiconductor sales increased by 11.6 percent year-on-year and by 3.2 percent sequentially.

The 7.6 percent increase is down slightly from the 8 percent increase marked in June.

Separately, research firm Gartner said on Tuesday that any rebound in global chip demand could be delayed until 2010 as demand shrinks in the second half of this year and worldwide economic conditions worsen.

SIA on Tuesday reported that sales of DRAM and NAND flash memory continued to slip as a result of continuing price erosion.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul in New York and S John Tilak in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Derek Caney)