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To: jim kelley who wrote (56460)	10/3/2000 9:23:52 PM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

Chip Market Remains Robust (10/03/00, 8:51 p.m. ET) By , Semiconductor Business News Despite some dark clouds on the PC industry's horizon, the worldwide semiconductor market grew by a record 52.7 percent for the month of August, according to figures released Tuesday by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Citing strong growth in the communications sectors as well as the Asia-Pacific markets, worldwide sales of semiconductors were $18.2 billion in August, compared to $11.9 billion in the like period a year ago, according to the SIA, San Jose, Calif. "This is a remarkable year for semiconductors," said George Scalise, president of the SIA. "We continue to see strong growth for chips used in consumer, Internet, and telecommunications products." Scalise also remained bullish for the remainder of this year. "We are confident the industry will reach our forecast of 31 percent growth for 2000 once we tally sales for the final months of this year," he added. The increase in semiconductor sales was apparent in all geographical regions. The Asia-Pacific and Japanese markets grew 60.2 percent and 53.7 percent, respectively, over last year, the SIA said. The Americas market was up 50.3 percent from last year, and Europe's sales grew 46.4 percent, they added. Still, there are some worrisome signs in the industry. While the communications-equipment and chip sectors remain hot, the PC business appears to be slowing down faster than many observers had expected. Two weeks ago, for example, shares of Intel Corp. (stock: INTC) plunged 22 percent a day after the Santa Clara, Calif., company announced that its third-quarter revenues would be only 3-to-5 percent higher than sales in the prior three-month period, primarily due to weak demand in Europe. Last week, Apple Computer Corp. (stock: AAPL), Cupertino, Calif., which had been on the comeback trail, made a similar announcement concerning weak third-quarter sales. Not everyone is suffering, especially in the communications and wafer-foundry sectors. For example, with demand for silicon foundry capacity going through the roof, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. recently raised its sales forecast by 125.4 percent for the year.