Worldwide highlights
08/01/1998
Worldwide highlights
Tool orders nearly flat. With order decline rates stabilizing, the semiconductor equipment market downturn may be close to hitting bottom, but signs of an industry recovery remain elusive. In its monthly report, SEMI said that three-month average tool orders at North American equipment firms were nearly flat in April at $1.07 billion, down 2.5% from March`s revised $1.10 billion, and 13% below year-ago levels (see table). The book-to-bill ratio fell to 0.79 in April, down from a revised 0.82 in March. This is the ratio`s lowest point since December 1996, and fifth consecutive month below unity. The trade association said shipments in April rose to $1.4 billion, 1% above last month`s $1.3 billion and 23% above April 1997 shipments, an indicator that the downturn may be flattening out, according to SEMI analyst Dick Greene.
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SIA sees 1.8% decline in `98 chip sales. The Semiconductor Industry Association has revised its previous forecast and now predicts that chip sales will decline 1.8% this year, to $134.6 billion, instead of rising 16.8% to $162.6 billion as estimated last fall. SIA president George Scalise cited "financial turbulence in Asia," a gradual slowing of the world economy, and "continued pricing problems and oversupply of memory chips" as reasons for the predicted weakness. However, he said continuing strong growth of the Internet, along with demand for new MPUs, DSPs, and consumer devices would drive a strong recovery in 1999-2001, with annual growth in the 17-19% range.