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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FJB who wrote (37238)	9/12/2000 9:11:26 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

AMT Insists Bright Future Ahead for Semiconductor Industry September 12, 2000 (TAIPEI) -- With prophets of doom forecasting that the semiconductor market faces saturation, the book-to-bill ratio of global semiconductor facilities has fallen for the fifth month in a row. According to U.S.-based Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI)'s study, the ratio was reported at 1.44 for February, at 1.46 for March, at 1.36 for April, at 1.29 for May, at 1.27 for June and at 1.23 for July. Applied Materials Taiwan (AMT), a branch of Applied Materials Inc., the world's largest provider of semiconductor facilities, has received fewer orders in the second half of this year. Nevertheless, the company's general manager remained optimistic about the future prospects for the market, contrary to the prevailing opinion in the industry, saying that the slowdown in the order inflow was mainly due to the reallocation of semiconductor production. He added, "We have not seen any glut in the semiconductor industry so far." AMT's manager regards the slide in the orders of semiconductor facilities in the third and fourth quarter as a natural development. He said that semiconductor manufacturers would have fewer procurement plans unless they fully digested the orders and capacities by using the equipment bought at the beginning of the year. AMT therefore expects to receive a robust flow of orders again in the first or second quarter of next year. The manager saw good prospects for the semiconductor industry in 2001, believing that newly launched products of communication and telecommunication; and consumer electronics products (such as Sony's PlayStation) will be additional sources of semiconductor orders. Before this, semiconductor manufacturers will take time to reallocate their production, the other reason for the slowdown in facility orders. Applied Materials estimated that investments by global semiconductor manufacturers in building new plants in 2001 would be 30 percent higher than this year, at US$70.6 billion. AMT agreed with its parent company's view, and predicted that the industry's bullish sentiment was likely to last at least three years, on the healthy global economy and the increase of new electronics products. At present, orders coming from memory-chip companies account for 15 percent of AMT's total received orders. The bulk of its orders (75 percent) come from wafer foundry companies, and IDM orders account for the remaining 10 percent. AMT forecasts that the future of the semiconductor industry will depend on the prospects of the personal computer market in China. (Commercial Times, Taiwan)