One bit of good news for the air express industry came recently from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) which reported that global sales of semiconductors for the first half of 2008 grew to US$127.5 billion, an increase of 5.4 per cent over the first half of 2007.
The news appears to buck the trend of a faltering global economy as semiconductor sales are seen as ‘bellwether’ indicator.
Emerging markets are a major driver of worldwide semiconductor sales. The SIA is forecasting PC unit sales in such markets to grow by 19 per cent, more than double the growth rate in developed markets this year. In 2008, developing countries – with sales of over 153 million units – will account for half of worldwide PC sales.
In mobile phones, developing countries are expected to account for 66 per cent of total worldwide unit sales of over 1.3 billion, up from 61 per cent last year. The emergence of large middle class populations in China, India, Eastern Europe and Latin America has Although currently suffering inflationary pressure, Vietnam is now Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economy more than offset the effects of slowergrowth in the US economy.