Semiconductors are featured most, if not all, modern electronic devices, but semiconductor sales dipped slightly in January. Industry experts, however, see a much brighter silver lining in this dark cloud.

Worldwide sales of semiconductors totaled $23.1 billion, a decrease of around 2.7 percent in January from $23.8 billion the previous month, according to figures released by the Semiconductor Industry Association.

“The month over month revenue decline for January is in line with seasonal patterns," Brian Toohey, president of the Association said. "A weakened global economy amidst inflation concerns and the European debt crisis continued to affect sales at the start of the year, but there are strong signs pointing to recovery and growth as 2012 progresses."

Among the reasons to be optimistic for growth in the semiconductor market is the improving U.S. economy, increased demand due to new devices like Apple’s (News - Alert) widely anticipated iPad 3, and the end of flooding in Thailand.

The flooding in Thailand in October 2011 disrupted a lot of electronics manufacturing in the country, including hard drive manufacturing, which in turn affected laptop makers in the last quarter of the year. Nearly half of all hard drives are manufactured in Thailand.

Research and Markets, announcing a report by Frost and Sullivan on the semiconductor market in February, also found reasons to expect growth in the industry.

“In spite of the dip in sales during the year 2008, demand has been on the rise and is expected to continue for the next three years,” the company said in a press release. “There has been a steep rise in the sale of consumer electronics, particularly the mobile and communication segments. This has increased the demand for power electronic components worldwide. In addition, the demand for new and improved applications in the industrial market is on the rise. All this has lead to an increase in demand for discrete components.”