Japan

04/01/1997

Japan

Survey predicts slower year for tool buying in Japan. Japanese purchases of semiconductor manufacturing equipment are expected to resume growth in 1998 and 1999, according to a new sales outlook survey by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan. The survey also suggested that Japan`s equipment makers will see a similar pattern, with domestic and export sales both heating up in fiscal 1998. The DRAM recession in Japan is blamed as the prime culprit in declining sales for fiscal 1996 and 1997; despite diversification over the last decade, many Japanese firms are still heavily dependent on memories.

Matsushita Electronics, Osaka, Japan, a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric, will introduce new 0.25-micron fab lines at its Tonami Plant in Toyama Prefecture this month and at its Washington state plant in October. About a year ago, the parent company entered the DRAM business with a new wafer processing facility at the Tonami plant.