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To: Beachbumm who wrote (11698)	4/17/1998 10:03:00 PM
From: Mang Cheng	Respond to of 25814

"Chip-Equipment Index Drops To 18-Month Low" ( 4/17/98; 3:00 PM EST) By J. Robert Lineback, Semiconductor Business News Worldwide shipments of semiconductor production equipment from North American suppliers nose-dived in March with the industry posting an 18-month low book-to-bill ratio of 0.80, according to market statistics released Friday by the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International trade group. SEMI's new book-to-bill shows North American semiconductor equipment suppliers were only receiving $80 worth of new orders for $100 worth of products shipped last month. The latest SEMI figures reflect just how bad things have become in the chip production equipment business since last fall, when the industry began feeling the impact of the Asian financial crisis. Both shipments and orders for capital equipment slipped in March, according to SEMI's three-month moving averages. Shipments dropped 1 percent to $1.322 billion below February's $1.342 billion. However, SEMI said March's billings figure was 27 percent above shipments recorded a year ago. Bookings tumbled 12 percent in March to $1.064 billion compared with $1.214 billion in February. Compared with March 1997, the preliminary booking figure for last month was 8 percent lower than a year ago. "SEMI's March data indicates the continued downward trend of worldwide equipment orders, with total orders for March down by essentially the same amount as from January to February," said Dick Greene, principal analyst with SEMI. He added these figures are in line with SEMI's latest buyers survey, which was completed in March, showing chip equipment orders likely to slip 12 percent in 1998. c 1998 CMP Media, Inc. techweb.cmp.com Mang