IT SEEMS THAT those of of us with a predilection for electronic widgetry are ignoring the doom merchants in the corridors of power and splashing the cash on gadgets at an alarming rate.

Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew by 7.6 percent to $22.2 billion in July compared to July 2007 sales of $20.6 billion.

Analysts have put the healthy growth down to the sale of personal computers and cell phones – which account for about 80 percent of chip demand.

Flat screen TVs are predicted to increase 32 per cent this year, and digital set-top boxes and digital still cameras will both be up around 20 per cent according to the bean counters.

Sales figures for DRAM and NAND flash memory continued to decline but that's more about dropping prices than slowing unit sales.

There are loads more complex numbers and charts and stuff available here for those of you who like that sort of thing. µ