The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has released its assessment of worldwide sales figures for July and the news is not good for the industry.

The SIA said that chip sales fell by 17 per cent in the month, accounting for revenue of $9.66 billion. In July 1997 revenue worldwide amounted to $11.65 billion.

The SIA blamed continued economic turmoil in Japan, added to pressures on product pricing. Sales in Japan declined by 30.2 per cent compared to July last year, but the SIA said two thirds of this decline was because of depreciation of the yen.

A continuing glut of memory parts also continues to impact the market the association said.

But George Scalise, president of the SIA, said there were positive signs in the marketplace largely due to increased sales of PC.

"The oversupply of some semiconductor products has driven down the average selling price of applications, but pricing will modify as demand balances with capacity," he said.

The European market dropped from $2.31 billion to $2.22 billion year on year. The American sector fell from $3.85 billion to $3.20 billion, while Asia Pacific fell from $2.54 billion to $2.1 billion, said the SIA.

The rolling three month average compiled by the organisation showed that the Asia Pacific region slumped by nearly 10 per cent.