BofA: China core semiconductor sales rise 24% in June-August

China’s core semiconductor sales, excluding memory, increased 24% year-over-year in the June-August 2026 period, up from 18% growth in the second quarter of 2026, according to SIA/WSTS data cited by Bank of America.

Microprocessing units remained the primary growth driver, accelerating to 70% year-over-year in the three-month period from 56% in the second quarter. Logic chip growth also increased to 29% from 19% in the prior quarter.

China’s MPU growth exceeded the global growth rate of 40%, reflecting rising domestic computing demand.

Memory growth strengthened to 458% year-over-year in the June-August period from 432% in the second quarter, accounting for 60% of China’s semiconductor sales. Sequential growth slowed to 29% from 59% quarter-over-quarter in the second quarter, partly due to a normalization in the pace of price increases.

DRAM sales grew 494% year-over-year, while NAND increased 424%. Sequential DRAM growth slowed to 36% quarter-over-quarter from 64% in the second quarter, and NAND to 18% from 51%, partly due to moderating price increases.

Microcontroller unit growth improved slightly to 19% year-over-year from 18% in the second quarter. GigaDevice raised MCU product prices modestly in the second quarter, and industry supply tightness is expected to continue in coming quarters.

Analog sales remained stable at 14% year-over-year compared to 15% in the second quarter. Discrete semiconductor sales growth eased to 11% from 13%.

China’s total semiconductor average selling price edged higher to $1.02 in June-August, remaining 32% below the global average.

China Customs data shows integrated circuit export value growth accelerated to 128% year-over-year in the third quarter from 111% in the second quarter, outpacing import value growth of 76% in the third quarter compared to 65% in the prior quarter.