The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, has announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25.8 billion for the month of September, an increase of 2.7 percent from the prior month when sales were $25.1 billion. However, as compared to sales for the same month last year, the chip sales were down by 1.7 percent.

Overall quarter-over-quarter sales increased 2.1 percent and on a year-to-date basis sales grew 2.2 percent. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.

In a statement, Brian Toohey, president, Semiconductor Industry Association, said, "September's global sales demonstrate an optimistic close to the third quarter. While global economic uncertainty creates limited visibility for the remainder of the year, recent positive indicators and developments in the U.S. and Europe are encouraging, he added.

According to SIA, sales in the Americas were up 0.7 percent in September from August, while sales in Europe rose 2.1 percent. By comparison, the three-month moving averages for the Americas and Europe were down 0.4 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively

The SIA president also extended sympathies to the people of Thailand, who are suffering through a humanitarian crisis caused by devastating floods.

This growth is also the result of a recovery that is underway in Japan from the recent earthquake in the North-East part of the country. SIA reports that a 13.7 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in Japan was driven by progress made in their recovery efforts. Additionally, strong demand for automotive applications and mobile processing in handheld devices like smartphones, tablets and eReaders added to the quarter-over-quarter increase.

According to SIA, an updated World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) forecast is expected to be released at the end of November.