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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sarmad Y. Hermiz who wrote (4982)	1/16/2003 8:06:43 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

IC book-to-bill up, but fab-utilization down Semiconductor Business News (01/16/03 04:00 p.m. EST) SAN JOSE--The rolling three-month, book-to-bill ratio for semiconductors rose to 1.06 in December of 2002, up from 1.01 in November of last year, according to VLSI Research Inc. here today. The worldwide IC book-to-bill is expected to increase to 1.15 in January, when bookings are forecasted at $11.86 billion and billings are at $10.33 billion, according to VLSI Research. Worldwide bookings were at $11.25 billion, while billings were at $10.63 billion for the month of December 2002, according to the San Jose-based market research firm. IC billings represent the average of WSTS sales data for October and November and VLSI Research's estimate for December. “The steady increase in the book-to bill ratios for both equipment and ICs in the fourth quarter of 2002 indicate that business conditions are slowly improving. Unfortunately, it has been so slow that any upwards movement is almost undetectable. The economic uncertainty continues to plague all levels of the supply chain. Lack of confidence by businesses is appearing to kill off what has been a consumer-led recovery,” the research firm added. “Front-end capacity utilization declined in December to 80.2%. Utilization rates have been on a downward slide since the peak of 87% in June. IC makers continue to cut production to raise prices. Three factors driving excess capacity are 300-mm, increased tool productivity and equipment discounting,” according to VLSI Research.