AV and all, got this from the Blood thread:
SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT SALES EXPECTED TO CRASH IN '98
Following a year of record sales in FY 1997, Japan's semiconductor manufacturing system makers are reeling from cancelled Korean orders and suggest that sales this year will fall by about half. Nikon, which sent 25 steppers to Korea last year, expects to send none this year.
The company has reduced its original estimates for total stepper shipments this year from 500 to 450, with lost sales pinned to fewer orders from Korea, the U.S., and Japan. Last year's record sales occurred despite a 2.7% downturn in equipment sales in Japan, which was the result of lower investments by semiconductor manufacturers facing weakened memory prices.
Ref: Japan Industrial Journal, 05/18/98, p. 6
How does one reconcile ASMLF's success recently with the comments made by Nikon? Is ASMLF really eating eveyone's lunch? |
