Sales of semiconductors worldwide increased 47.6 percent in May from a year ago and 4.5 percent higher than the previous month, Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said Tuesday.

SIA says global sales of computer chips reached 24.7 billion dollars in April, compared with 16.7 billion dollars in May 2009 and 23.6 billion dollars in April.

“Global semiconductor sales may reach a new highest point and stay in step to achieve the SIA’s forecast growth of 28.4 percent to 290.5 billion dollars in 2010,” said SIA President George Scalise in a statement.

“Sales of the chip have been supported by strength in sales of personal computers, cellular phones, information technology companies, and industrial applications and automotive,” said Scalise.

“The market is growing, including China and India, which triggered the sale of computer and communication products,” he said.

“The demand from information technology companies and industry sectors pushing out the replacement cycle for a global economic recession began to return,” he added.

Scalise noted that the strong growth rate in the year-to-year “highlighting the condition of the first semester of 2009 the market was very depressed.”

“Looking ahead, the ratio of the growth year-to-year industry that will reflects recovery gained momentum in the second half of last year,” he said.

Sales of semiconductors in the United States rose 52.9 percent in May from a year ago and 8.2 percent higher than in April. Chip sales in Asia-Pacific region rose 50.9 percent in May compared to last year and 5.0 percent higher than April.