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To: ScotMcI who wrote (24038)	1/21/2000 1:27:00 PM
From: ScotMcI	Respond to of 25960

Chip Equipment Orders Hit Record (01/21/00, 10:34 a.m. ET) By J. Robert Lineback, Semiconductor Business News North American suppliers of chip production systems finished 1999 on a high point, with orders for tools reaching a record $1.833 billion in December, according to the book-to-bill report from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). December's bookings, based on a three-month moving average, made for the second straight record for chip equipment orders, beating November's $1.7 billion figure by 8 percent, the Mountain View, Calif.-based trade group said. For December, SEMI's book-to-bill ratio stood at 1.18, meaning that $118 in orders were received for each $100 worth of products shipped by semiconductor tool suppliers. SEMI's revised book-to-bill ratio stood at 1.10 for November. "The strong semiconductor equipment order pattern that began last fall has continued through December," said Stanley T. Myers, president of SEMI. "As the semiconductor industry continues to report strong sales, the move to invest in new technologies has been accelerating. The conversion to 0.18-micron process technology is in full swing and requires a significant investment by chip manufacturers." During SEMI's Industry Strategy Symposium in Pebble Beach, Calif., this month, analysts predicted chip makers would increase spending on production systems by 26 to 44 percent in 2000. With existing wafer fabs operating at more than 90 percent of their available capacity, semiconductor companies are beginning to launch plant projects to handle advanced processes and eventually larger 300-mm wafer diameters. Dataquest -- the most bullish of market researchers presenting forecasts at the symposium -- is predicting wafer equipment revenue will increase 43.5 percent, to $25.073 billion in 2000 from $17.47 billion in 1999. SEMI's book-to-bill report, released late Thursday evening, shows semiconductor equipment sales continuing the strong turnaround that began in 1999. In December, revenue for equipment shipments totaled $1.558 billion, a 1 percent increase over $1.542 billion in November. Equipment sales were 69 percent higher than a year ago, when shipments only reached $921 million in December 1998, SEMI said. December's orders for equipment were 108 percent higher than $883 million in the same month in 1998. In the previous market cycle -- which peaked nearly four years ago -- the record high for equipment bookings was $1.69 billion in February 1996. December's $1.83 billion figure was 9 percent higher than the booking's record in the last cycle, SEMI said.