Global chip equipment sales fall 14.5% m/m in Oct
Monday December 15, 3:02 am ET
TOKYO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Global sales of chip-making
equipment fell 14.5 percent month-on-month to $2.05 billion in October from a two-and-a-half year high in September, an industry group said on Monday.
The October figure was up 0.1 percent from a year earlier,
marking the third straight month of year-on-year rise,
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said in a preliminary release. The volatile data is largely seasonal.
September sales hit $2.4 billion, the highest figure since
April 2001. Prompted by strong demand for digital cameras, flat-panel televisions and DVD recorders, semiconductor manufacturers have been ramping up production capacity.
The pick-up in demand and capital spending shows the
semiconductor industry may be recovering from a prolonged slump.
In a departure from recent years, a bevy of chip makers --
Intel Corp (NasdaqNM:INTC - News), Texas Instruments Inc (NYSE:TXN - News) and Analog Devices Inc (NYSE:ADI - News) -- have all said they plan to keep their factories open during the year-end holidays.
Chip makers have also said in recent months they plan to
boost capital spending to meet the demand.
U.S. semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE:AMD - News) said in November it plans to build a new $2.4 billion factory in the eastern German city of Dresden. The plant would begin production in 2006, the company said.
Toshiba Corp (Tokyo:6502.T - News) said earlier this month it would partner with SanDisk Corp (NasdaqNM:SNDK - News) to invest in 175 billion yen ($1.62 billion) worth of manufacturing equipment for a new production facility in Japan.
SEMI's October figures showed strong gains in chip equipment sales in South Korea on both an annual and monthly basis, but sharp declines in North America.
The report from SEMI, a California-based international
organisation, was released by the Semiconductor Association of Japan.
Following are October chip equipment sales figures, in
millions of dollars. Figures in brackets are the percentage
change from the same month a year earlier, followed by the
percentage change from the previous month:
y/y m/m
Japan 464.0 (+23.23) (-35.50)
N. America 377.4 (-35.72) (-18.66)
Europe 277.1 (- 1.30) (+11.34)
S.Korea 309.1 (+103.04) (+44.69)
Taiwan 292.1 (-15.95) (-18.64)
Others 330.4 (+ 8.56) (-16.07)
TOTAL 2,050.2 (+ 0.1) (-14.53)
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