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

To: Kirk © who wrote (7192)	9/17/2003 3:00:15 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Chip Demand Recovering TI Chief Says Wednesday September 17, 1:45 pm ET By Jim Christie SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN - News) Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Engibous on Wednesday said the U.S. economy is clearly recovering, and sales of microchips will grow faster than analysts have predicted amid a rise in demand for advanced chips in consumer electronics. "We are clearly in that recovery mode," Engibous told Reuters after a presentation at a Banc of America Securities (News - Websites) investor conference. "Corporate America is more focused on revenue growth than cost cutting." However, Engibous noted that job growth continues to lag improving economic outlooks among corporate chief executives. Engibous, speaking at the conference, said he expects growth rates for the chip industry to exceed the 10 percent annual growth forecast issued recently by the Semiconductor Industry Association as advanced microchips expand the capabilities of consumer electronics including mobile phones. Chip makers are seeking to recover from their worst-ever downturn caused by the long high-tech and telecom slumps. Engibous said Texas Instruments, the top supplier of microchips for cellular phones, is moving aggressively into the consumer electronics market, where products are increasingly adding wireless chips to access networks. Dallas-based Texas Instruments earlier this month said its third-quarter revenue will come in at the higher end of its prior forecast on improved demand for semiconductor products. That provided further evidence the chip industry is seeing renewed demand from makers of cell phone handsets, computers and other devices, according to analysts. Texas Instruments said it expects revenue for the quarter to come in between $2.39 billion and $2.49 billion, compared with an earlier forecast of $2.29 billion to $2.49 billion. Additionally, Texas Instruments said it expects third-quarter earnings of between 20 cents and 22 cents per share, including a 13-cent gain from the sale of 24.7 million shares of Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE:MU - News). A rival of Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - News), Texas Instruments said its new revenue estimate reflected strengthening demand across a broad range of semiconductor products. It noted that revenue from chip products is expected to be between $1.99 billion and $2.07 million, compared with a previous range of $1.89 billion to $2.05 billion. Separately, Texas Instruments on Wednesday introduced a low-power chip for mobile phones that can communicate with two types of popular high-speed wireless networks. Shares in Texas Instruments fell 23 cents to $24.52 in active afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites). (Additional reporting by Dan Sorid in San Francisco)

To: Kirk © who wrote (7192)	9/17/2003 7:49:44 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts August 2003 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.91 SAN JOSE, Calif., September 17, 2003 -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $721 million in orders in August 2003 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.91, according to the August 2003 Express Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.91 means that $91 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. The three-month average of worldwide bookings in August 2003 was $721 million. The bookings figure is two percent above the revised July 2003 level of $707 million and 29 percent below the $1.02 billion in orders posted in August 2002. The three-month average of worldwide billings in August 2003 was $789.9 million. The billings figure is slightly above the revised July 2003 level of $785.9 million and 21 percent below the August 2002 billings level of $995 million. "Overall bookings and billings figures for North American-based semiconductor capital equipment providers have remained essentially flat over the past several months," said Dan Tracy, Ph.D., director of Industry Research and Statistics for SEMI. "Indicators such as increasing utilization of IC manufacturing capacity and growth in semiconductor markets point to more favorable conditions for equipment makers. However, they have not yet translated into significant improvement in orders or sales." The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average billings for the North American semiconductor equipment industry. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars. Billings (Three-month avg.) Bookings (Three-month avg.) Book-to-Bill March 2003 857.1 777.3 0.91 April 2003 840.4 757.3 0.90 May 2003 805.4 723.5 0.90 June 2003 776.5 722.3 0.93 July 2003 (final) 785.9 706.9 0.90 August 2003 (prelim.) 789.9 720.6 0.91 The data contained in this release was compiled by David Powell, Inc., an independent financial services firm, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and David Powell, Inc. can assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data. The data are contained in a monthly Express Report published by SEMI that tracks billings and orders worldwide of North American-based manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not billings and orders of the chips themselves. The August 2003 Express Report is scheduled for publication on October 20, 2003 (subject to change). SEMI is a global industry association serving more than 2,500 companies that develop and provide manufacturing technology and materials to the global semiconductor, flat panel display, MEMS and related microelectronics industries. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Brussels, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose (Calif.), Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.semi.org.