Sales reached $3.685 billion in the month, an 18.7 percent compared to sales in May 2017.

This year, between January to May, chip sales rose by 20.1 percent compared to the same period in 2018.

Demand was mainly for discrete devices, sensors, logic devices and memory chips.

Worldwide, semiconductor sales in May amounted to $38.723 billion – that's 21 percent up from May 2017.

The ESIA derives its data from the world organisation monitoring semiconductor sales, the WSTS.

The latter organisation is predicting continued growth right through next year, with sensors accounting for the biggest growth spurt.