UPDATE 1-Global semiconductor sales rise 8 pct in June - SIA

(Recasts; adds details)

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Worldwide sales of semiconductors in June rose 8 percent to $21.6 billion, up from the $20 billion for the same month a year ago, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association's monthly report. Global sales for the month rose 0.5 percent from the previous month of May, when sales were $21.5 billion, helped by continuing strength in the international markets and a healthy demand in the U.S.

Year-to-date sales rose 5.4 percent to $127.5 billion, over the first half of 2007.

"Key demand drivers for semiconductors -- especially personal computers, which account for 40 percent of semiconductor sales, and mobile phones, which drive about 20 percent of demand -- continued to show double-digit unit growth," SIA President George Scalise said in a statement.

Excluding memory products, semiconductor sales grew by 12 percent year-on-year. Price attrition in memory products contributed to a 6 percent year-on-year decline in total memory sales despite sharply increased unit sales.

"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," Scalise said. "PC unit sales in emerging markets are expected to grow by 19 percent - more than double the growth rate in developed markets this year," he added.

(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)

((esha.dey@reuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: esha.dey.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: GLOBALSEMICONDUCTORSALES/

(C) Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nBNG69438