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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (40447)	12/4/2000 10:09:04 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Asia Pacific chip sales slip in October from previous month, says SIA Monthly report puts total revenues at record $18.66 billion in despite growth slowdown By J. Robert Lineback Semiconductor Business News (12/04/00 06:20 a.m. PST) SAN JOSE -- Chip sales growth continued to slow in October, and for the first time this year, revenues dropped in the Asia Pacific region compared to shipments in the prior month, according to new market statistics released today by the Semiconductor Industry Association here. In releasing its monthly global sales report, the SIA emphasized that worldwide semiconductor sales reached a record $18.66 billion in October, which was 39.4% higher than a year ago. However, the report also underscored some of the problems now plaguing the chip industry, which usually experiences stronger growth in the fall as equipment makers increase shipments in the fourth-quarter shopping season. A variety of problems--including inventory adjustments by cellular phone makers and slower-than-expected PC shipments--are collectively pulling down chip revenue growth this quarter. The SIA's three-month moving sales average shows October billings to be 1.3% higher than September's $18.42 billion. During the summer, chip sales were growing as much as 5% month-to-month in anticipation of a strong fourth-quarter period for system makers. In what has been the fastest growing region in the boom cycle, Asia Pacific chip sales dropped 2.1% to $4.6 billion in October vs. $4.7 billion in September, the report said. However, Asia Pacific chip sales were still 35.2% higher than $3.4 billion in October 1999, the SIA said. In the Americas, chip sales growth slowed to just 0.3% in October, reaching $5.91 billion compared to $5.89 billion in September. IN a year-to-year comparison, chip sales in the Americas were up 41.3% from $4.18 billion in October 1999, said the SIA report. Despite the sequential month-to-month slowdown in growth, the industry appears to be on track for an annual growth of 37.1% over 1999, and it will exceed total sales of $200 billion, said George Scalise, president of the SIA. Early last month, the U.S. trade group predicted the global chip markets would reach $205 billion in 2000, and grow another 22% to $249 billion in 2001 (see Nov. 1 story). "Sectors that continue to report record sales include flash, standard cells [ASICs], analog, microprocessors, and field programmable logic which are currently driving the personal computer and consumer markets, along with the wired and wireless communications revolution," said the SIA president. However, many U.S. chip makers have recently downgraded their outlooks for fourth-quarter sales due to weakness in some of those key end-user segments. In Japan, chip sales grew 3.5% to $4.36 billion in October, based on the SIA's three-month moving average, compared to $4.21 billion in September. Compared to a year ago, Japan's chip revenues were up 47.4% in October compared to $2.96 billion in the month last year, the SIA report said. In Europe, chip sales grew the strongest on a month-to-month comparison. Revenues rose 4.8% to $3.79 billion in October vs. $3.62 billion in September. The SIA report said European semiconductor shipments grew 33.2% from $2.84 billion in October 1999.