Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$85.2 billion in the third quarter of 2015, up 1.5% sequentially but down 2.8% on year, according to SIA.

Sales for September 2015 were US$28.4 billion, rising 1.9% on month but falling 2.8% from a year earlier, said SIA.

"Global semiconductor sales showed signs of resilience in September, increasing compared to the previous month across all regional markets for the first time in more than a year," said John Neuffer, president and CEO of SIA. "However, softening demand and currency devaluation caused year-to-year sales to dip for the third straight month."

Regionally, chip sales increased compared to September 2014 in China (5.0%), but decreased in Asia Pacific/All Other (negative 3.5%), the Americas (negative 3.9%), Europe (negative 10.6%) and Japan (negative 11.4%). Sales were up compared to last month in the Americas (4.0%), China (2.6%), Europe (2.2%), Japan (0.5%) and Asia Pacific/All Other (0.1%).