BERLIN — China, India, Eastern Europe and Latin America drove a 5.4% rise in global chip sales in the first half of 2008, helping to overcome stagnant demand in the weak US economy, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

Global sales of semiconductors for the first half of 2008 grew to $127.5B, an increase of 5.4% over the first half of 2007.

"The emergence of large middle-class populations in China, India, Eastern Europe, and Latin America has more than offset the effects of slower growth in the U.S. economy," said SIA President George Scalise in a statement.

"We expect that demand for consumer electronic products in these new markets will continue to outpace growth in developed markets for the next several years."

In addition, worldwide sales of semiconductors in June rose to $21.6 billion, up 8% from the same month one year ago.

PCs, which account for 40% of chip sales, and mobile phones, which account for about 20%, continued to show double-digit unit growth, according to the SIA.

Specifically in developing economies, PC unit sales are expected to grow by 19% this year, more than double the growth rate in developed markets. The developing countries are forecast to account for half of worldwide PC sales this year.

Mobile phones in developing countries are expected to reach 66% of worldwide unit sales of 1.3 billion, up from 61% last year.

"Emerging markets are a major factor in driving worldwide semiconductor sales," Scalise said.