Global chip equipment sales fall in April-SEMI
Monday June 16, 4:04 am ET
TOKYO, June 16 (Reuters) - Global sales of chipmaking
equipment fell 37.1 percent in April from the month before to
$1.5 billion, hurt by weak sales in Japan, South Korea and the
United States, an industry group said on Monday.
The April figure was down 11.7 percent from the same month a
year earlier, snapping a streak of seven consecutive months of
year-on-year gains, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials
International (SEMI) said.
The fall in April followed a 59.1 percent rise in the
volatile data in March compared with the previous month.
The semiconductor sector remains mired in a protracted slump
with major equipment suppliers like Applied Materials Inc
(NasdaqNM:AMAT - News) and Tokyo Electron Ltd (Tokyo:8035.T - News) facing spending cutbacks
by Intel Corp (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) and Taiwan's big chipmakers.
Japanese computer memory chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc said
earlier this month it received 81.5 billion yen ($695 million) in
extra financing, which would allow the DRAM manufacturer to buy
new chipmaking equipment for its state-of-the-art plant in
Hiroshima, western Japan.
Tokyo Electron has said it does not expect a full-fledged
orders recovery until after September. It also abandoned a 10
percent revenue growth target for the current year started in
April.
Monday's sales data showed a particularly sharp decline in
equipment sales in Japan, North America and South Korea, although
European sales outperformed other markets.
The report from SEMI, a California-based international
organisation, was released by the Semiconductor Equipment
Association of Japan (SEAJ).
Following are April chip equipment sales figures, in millions
of dollars. Figures in brackets are the percentage change from
the previous month.
Japan 267.6 (-53.9)
N. America 381.2 (-30.7)
Europe 240.9 (+13.9)
S. Korea 232.9 (-47.4)
Taiwan 155.1 (-33.1)
Other 225.5 (-39.5)
TOTAL 1,503.1 (-37.1)
($1=117.35 yen) |
