August chip equipment orders fall
Trade group says orders were down 5% from July after almost a year of growth, sees trend continuing.
September 17, 2004: 7:42 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - North American semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers reported that orders fell in August after nearly a year of growth, a U.S. trade group said Thursday, adding that orders may weaken further in coming months.
Orders for equipment used to produce microchips reached $1.52 billion in August, down 5 percent from July, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International said in a monthly update.
Orders were still more than double the same month last year, when the chip industry ordered $731.8 million in equipment.
Billings, or shipments, were $1.51 billion in August, down 1 percent from July and up 90 percent from a year earlier. The ratio of orders to shipments, known as the book-to-bill ratio, was 1.00 in August, meaning that for every $100 of products shipped, an equal amount of new orders were received.
"A number of recent company announcements suggest these levels may continue to soften in the coming months," said Lubab Sheet, research development director of the trade group, in a statement. "However, we believe the industry is on track to exceed our overall worldwide forecast projection of $36 billion this year."
