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

To: Margarita who wrote (10477)	11/6/1997 5:13:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Story posted at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST, 11/6/97 Chip sales hit 19-month high SAN JOSE -- Worldwide semiconductor sales reached their highest levels in 19 months during September, climbing to $11.797 billion, a 14.7% increase over $10.290 billion in the same month last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) here today. The SIA's latest global sales report shows chip revenues increased 1.6% in September compared to $11.607 billion in August, based on a three-month rolling average. In the Americas, semiconductor billings totaled $3.933 billion in September, a 20.1% increase over $3.275 billion in the same month last year but a rise of just 1.9% from $3.858 billion in August. SIA officials said the new sales figures show the 1997 semiconductor recovery gaining momentum. "The September results are in line with the 1997-2000 worldwide forecast we released last week, which calls for industry growth of 5.5% in 1997 and 16.8% in 1998," said George Scalise, SIA president. Last week, the SIA predicted global chip sales would reach $162.6 billion, based on a forecast by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. The forecast is predicated on a significant rebound in DRAM markets (see Oct. 29 story). Last year, semiconductor revenues slipped 8.6% to $131.9 billion. After a sluggish start to 1997, chip sales have gained momentum and pushed ahead of last year's totals, but the month-to-month gains have slowed recently, causing some analysts to worry about the coming months. In San Jose, however, the SIA is confident that the industry will continue to gain strength. "The 1997 recovery continues to pick up steam, thanks to continue expansion of the personal computer market, growth of telecommunications, and surging interest in the Internet," Scalise said. Despite recent financial turmoil in Asia, the Pacific Rim regional markets showed the strongest gains in September over the previous year, according to the SIA report. Asia-Pacific chip sales reached $2.677 billion in September, up 22.4% over $2.186 billion in September 1996, the report said. Compared to August, the region's semiconductor revenues grew 3.9% in September. In Europe, chip sales grew 15.7% to $2.373 billion in September, compared to $2.050 billion in the same month last year. Compared to August, Europe's September sales total was 4.4% higher. The Japanese chip market continues to suffer, however. The SIA report said Japan's semiconductor market rose just 1.3% to $2.815 billion in September, compared to $2.779 billion last year. Compared to August, chip sales in Japan dropped 2.9%.