SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Amid a somewhat flat year for ICs in 2007, worldwide chip sales were $22.3 billion in December, an increase of 2.5 percent compared to the $21.7 billion reported in the like period a year ago, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

December's 2007 chip sales declined by 3.6 percent from the previous month, when sales were $23.1 billion. The modest sequential decline in December reflected ''normal seasonal patterns,'' according to the trade group, but analysts said that the figure was lower-than-expected.

Worldwide IC sales in the fourth quarter of 2007 were $66.8 billion, an increase of 2.5 percent over fourth-quarter 2006 sales of $65.2 billion, the SIA said. It also reported that global sales of semiconductors grew for the sixth-consecutive year, reaching a record $255.6 billion in 2007, an increase of 3.2 percent from the $247.7 billion reported in 2006.

"The past year was another good year for the global semiconductor industry, despite concerns about steep increases in energy costs and the sub-prime mortgage problem. Based on the outlook for key demand drivers, we believe our forecast for 7.7 percent industry growth for 2008 is realistic," said SIA President George Scalise, in a statement.

Shipments of personal computers, which account for approximately 40 percent all semiconductor consumption, grew by 13.8 percent and will grow by 12.2 percent in 2008, according to JPMorgan. Mobile PC unit sales grew 32.2 percent while desktop unit sales grew by 4.1 percent.

According to JPMorgan, cell phone unit shipments grew by 20 percent to nearly 1.2 billion units in 2007. Current forecasts project 10 to 15 percent growth in unit shipments in 2008.

On the down side, memory products are under pressure. Average selling prices (ASPs) for both DRAMs and NAND flash declined precipitously through the year. Total industry sales, excluding memory products, were up by 4.5 percent year-on-year.

Total bit shipments for DRAMs nearly doubled in 2007, but total revenues declined by 7.4 percent due to a decline of more than 39 percent in ASPs. NAND flash revenues were up 26 percent but unit shipments grew even faster at nearly 46 percent, while ASPs declined by 13.7 percent, according to the SIA.

Some were disappointed by the news. The December IC figures were ''weaker than our 4 percent expectations,'' said Bruce Diesen, an analyst with Carnegie ASA (Oslo, Norway).

''PC and handset chip sales were roughly as expected, but chips used in iPods, digital cameras, Nintendo ''wii'' and LCD TV's were all weaker than expected,'' the analyst said.

There were other mixed signs. ''Chip volumes rose an estimated 15 percent year-over-year as we expected, so prices continued to be pressured by overcapacity,'' he said. ''With lower than expected December sales and early indications pointing to further weakness in January, we lower our 2008 estimate from 6 percent to 4 percent growth in dollars, but keep our 11 percent volume forecast.