Global sales of com- puter chips dropped in January by 4.5 percent relative to December 1997, reflecting both seasonality and economic upheaval in Asia. The Semiconductor Industries Association (SIA) reports total sales of computer chips of $10,968 billion compared to $11.484 billion a month earlier. Demand in Japan suffered the largest drop-7 percent-falling to $2,352 billion. For the Asia-Pacific region, a separate SIA statistical group, sales dropped 6.5 percent to 2.415 billion. While the month-to-month report was not encouraging, SIA officials note that January 1998 sales are up 2.9 percent relative to January 1997, rising to $10,968 billion from $10,664 billion.
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