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To: BillyG who wrote (35295)	8/19/1998 9:52:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Chip demand seems to have bottomed, four weeks ago. Fab utilization rates.......................................... Posted: 3:00 p.m., EDT, 8/19/98 Equipment sales suffer as signs hint at rising chip demand By Margaret Quan NEW YORK - Semiconductor equipment orders fell to their lowest level of the year in July, and the industry's 0.69 book-to-bill ratio for the month indicates continuing problems with excess manufacturing capacity and Asia's economic crisis. The ratio, released Tuesday by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), was down from June's figure of 0.76 and was significantly lower than July 1997's ratio of 1.12. But though equipment makers aren't out of the woods, one analyst said recent signs indicate that an improvement in the chip industry. Utilization of chip assembly capacity has increased in each of the last four weeks after bottoming out in mid-July, according to Jay Deahna, semiconductor industry analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (New York), which surveys major IC assembly houses weekly. Assembly capacity utilization peaked at 92 percent in November 1997, then fell to 63.4 percent in July. Since then, utilization rates have increased and hit 70.1 percent for the week beginning August 10, Deahna said. Assembly houses and the suppliers of chip-assembly equipment and back-end test equipment are among the first to notice rising IC unit demand, said Ron Leckie, chief executive officer of Infrastructure (Dallas), a research consultancy. Utilization rates of front-end foundry capacity may also have bottomed out, according to the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter report. After falling to 55 to 60 percent in mid-July, utilization rates have improved to 65 to 70 percent over the past few weeks, Deahna said. More............................................ eet.com