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Global chip sales pass $1 trillion in the first eight months of 2026, a first for the semiconductor industry

Worldwide semiconductor sales reached $159.7 billion in August 2026, 144% more than a year earlier, taking the year's total past $1 trillion for the first time, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which expects more than $1.6 trillion for the full year.

A semiconductor wafer of microelectronic chips
A semiconductor wafer of microelectronic chips

Image via Wikimedia Commons, resized for the web: DrHughManning (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Global semiconductor sales came to $159.7 billion in August 2026, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said on 5 October. That is 8% more than July's $147.9 billion and 144.3% more than in August 2025, when sales were $65.4 billion. The monthly figures are compiled by World Semiconductor Trade Statistics and are three-month moving averages.

With August counted, sales for 2026 so far have passed $1 trillion, a total the industry had never reached in a year before. SIA president and chief executive Michael Robbins said the market had grown for 18 months in a row, and the association expects sales of more than $1.6 trillion for the whole of 2026.

Every region grew strongly on a year earlier: sales into the Americas rose 180.9%, Asia Pacific and other markets 143.0%, China 131.3%, Europe 98.5% and Japan 62.3%. Compared with July, all five regions were up, by between 6.6% and 9.1%.

Chip design, fabrication and testing draw on electrical engineers, physicists, chemists and materials scientists. Our guide to fully funded engineering degrees lists the routes that pay for a master's or PhD in these fields.

Why it matters: Chips are designed and made by electrical engineers, physicists, chemists and materials scientists, and engineering has more funded master's and PhD routes than almost any other subject.

Source: Semiconductor Industry Association: Press release, 5 October 2026

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