North American Chip Equipment Orders Up in December
Tue January 21, 2003 08:35 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Orders for semiconductor production and testing equipment from North American manufacturers rose in December, suggesting the chip capital equipment market is stabilizing, a trade group said on Tuesday.
The three-month average of worldwide semiconductor equipment orders was $839 million, up 8 percent from November orders of $777 million and 37 percent up from the $614 million in orders posted a year earlier, said trade group Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.
Equipment billings, a measure of the value of equipment accepted by customers and booked as revenue, was $853 million in December, down 13 percent from November's $976 million and 5 percent above the $810 million posted a year earlier.
The statistics indicate a ratio of orders to billings, known as the book-to-bill ratio, of 0.98, which means that $98 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month, the San Jose, California-based trade group said.
"The increased bookings level suggests further capital equipment market stabilization," said Stanley Myers, SEMI president and chief executive.
"While the bookings figure is well below the peak levels in 2002, the bookings and billings figures are nearing parity, which is seen as a positive trend," he said in a statement.
GROWTH FORECAST FOR 2003
SEMI has forecast growth in the semiconductor capital equipment business of between 10 percent and 20 percent in 2003, although some analysts question whether that estimate is too optimistic.
A SEMI survey released in December showed that equipment makers expect sales to have declined by about a third in 2002 but to rise about 15 percent this year.
North American manufacturers of chip equipment represent more than half the total world market.
Earlier on Tuesday, Glen Yeung of Salomon Smith Barney issued a report predicting first-quarter worldwide orders would rise 5 percent to 15 percent.
Yeung also forecast 2003 spending budgets, in general, would be up 5 percent to 10 percent annually, despite plans by the world's largest capital spender, Intel Corp. INTC.O , to cut capital expenses for 2003 between 17 percent and 25 percent.
Strength in Japan, China, Korea and Europe will offset declines in North America and Taiwan, Yeung predicted.
"Generally, we expect 2003 to be a transition year for semiconductor equipment, as opposed to one of clear cyclical recovery," he wrote.
He raised the semiconductor equipment sector to "Over Weight" from "Market Weight."
Data released late last week from the U.S. Federal Reserve Board showed that fab utilization at semiconductor and related electronic components plants in the United States remained flat in December. The capacity utilization last month was at an estimated 66.7 percent, compared with 66.4 percent each in November and October.
Shares of Applied Materials Inc. AMAT.O , rose to $13.62 in after-hours trade after closing at $13.52, down 1 cent on the day; shares of Lam Research Corp. LRCX.O , rose to $12.55 from a close of $12.49, up 16 cents on the day; and KLA-Tencor Corp. KLAC.O was up to $36 in after hours trade, after closing at $35.73, down 29 cents on the day. |
