Chip Sales Rise Significantly

As economists debate the future of the global economy, microprocessor sales and revenue are seeing a significant upturn. Are they are harbinger of overall economic growth?

The PC microprocessor market got a shot in the arm in the second quarter of this year, according to a study released Thursday by IDCthat suggested system makers bought more chips at a higher price.

The research firm said that worldwide PC microprocessor shipments and revenues increased 3.6 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively, in the second quarter of 2010. Historically, the average sequential change in unit shipments between the first and second quarter of a calendar year is an increase of 1.6 percent, while the average sequential change in revenues is negative 2.8 percent, leading IDC to note that this quarter’s results represent better performance than usual.

Mobile PC processor unit shipments led the charge with a 6.5 percent increase quarter over quarter, while PC server processor shipments rose 6.1 percent, IDC said. Desktop PC microprocessor shipments fared less well; they declined by 0.1 percent quarter over quarter according to the research firm.

“Such a sequential increase in PC processor shipments alone would have been enough to conclude that the first half was strong for the market,” Shane Rau, program director for computing, networking, and storage semiconductors at IDC, said in a statement. “However, a modest rise in revenues, too, points directly to a rise in average selling prices. System makers bought more and higher-priced PC processors in 2Q10 than in 1Q10. Digging a little deeper into the numbers shows that they bought more mobile processors and more server processors, while desktops remained flat.”

Read the rest at Hardware Central.