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To: maceng2 who wrote (257786)	8/27/2003 4:50:41 AM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 436258

Japan Chip-Making Equipment Orders Jump 27% In July biz.yahoo.com (my LU holding strong yesterday I noticed.. +3.3% pb -g-) TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- Global orders for Japanese semiconductor manufacturing equipment rose 27% in July from a year earlier to Y98.64 billion, as domestic demand remained solid while demand in other Asian nations picked up, an industry association said Wednesday. It was the second consecutive month of on-year gains, and the order value was the second largest in a year after the Y98.84 billion posted in May, the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan said. The July orders mark a 7.8% increase from June. "Japanese chip makers continue to lead the order growth. Demand for wafer- processing equipment was particularly brisk not only in Japan but also in (the rest of) Asia," a SEAJ official said. Reflecting the solid order gains, the book-to-bill ratio for Japanese equipment, computed as a three-month moving average, came to 1.40 in July, topping the key 1.00-mark for the third month straight, according to SEAJ. The ratio was 1.57 in June. The book-to-bill ratio measures the amount of new orders versus the amount of actual products shipped. A ratio over 1.00 means new orders outpaced shipments, implying a good business outlook. The ratio stood at 1.04 in May and 0.78 in April. Industry hopes are growing that orders may pick up more later this year as positive news continues to emerge from the sector. Tuesday, researcher Gartner Inc. predicted a cyclical rebound was under way in the chip sector and would allow the global industry to grow about 11% this year to $173 billion. The forecast represents an upgrade from Gartner's May prediction of 8.3% growth. The firm, which has been overly optimistic in estimating personal computer replacement demand, expects the sector to grow 21% in 2004 and 19% in 2005. Last week, the world's top chip maker Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) raised its third- quarter revenue outlook range, saying microprocessors, chipsets and motherboards are "unexpectedly strong" across all geographic regions and channels. In the domestic market, July orders for chip-making equipment made by both Japanese and foreign companies slipped 5.3% from a year ago to Y56.93 billion. The on-year drop is attributed to an abnormal jump in orders a year ago, and demand from domestic makers remained strong, the SEAJ official said. Worldwide sales of Japanese-made semiconductor production equipment grew 21% on year in July to Y77.22 billion. Domestic sales of chip-making equipment made by both Japanese and foreign companies surged 76% on year that month to Y61.37 billion, the association said. Major Japanese chip production equipment makers include Tokyo Electron Ltd. ( J.TKE or 8035), Nikon Corp. (J.NIK or 7731) and Advantest Corp. (ATE or 6857). -By Kanji Ishibashi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; kanji.ishibashi@dowjones.com -Edited by Bennett Richardson