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

To: Gottfried who wrote (23318)	8/26/1998 10:59:00 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Copied from the Cymer Thread: A Lehman report from last week says it is the worst ever: Headline: Semiconductor Equipment: Declines in Orders for U.S. Suppliers Continue Author: Edward C. White, Jr., Today's Date : 08/19/98 * The SEMI book-to-bill ratio for the 3 months ended in July for all equipment in total was 0.69, down from a revised 0.76 in June. Total orders were down 18.8% from June, representing the worst sequential decline since SEMI began publishing data in 1991. Total shipments were down 10.6%. * Although the decline in bookings is due in part to seasonal softness, significant cancellations from Taiwan over the last few months are taking their toll. Bookings have now declined 54% from peak levels in Nov., 1997. * Front end orders were down 22.2% sequentially, representing the worst sequential decline since since SEMI began publishing data. Test/Assembly orders were down 6.8%, after a dramatic decline of 22.2% in June. * Although we continue believe that weak demand for semi. equip. may persist for 6 months, some near-term positives are on the horizon, including PC inventory contraction, and potential seasonal 4Q strength in chip demand. Highlights: The U.S. Semiconductor Equipment Industry posted the worst sequential decline in 3-month average orders since SEMI began publishing data in 1991 for the period ending in July. Orders declined 18.8% from revised July levels. Cancellations and pushouts by customers in virtually all geographic regions, particularly Taiwanese customers, over the course of the last few months are taking their toll on U.S. equipment suppliers. The Front End Equipment ratio was 0.70 in July, down from a revised 0.79 in June. This represents the tenth sequential reporting period during which the growth in orders has been less than the growth in shipments. Front end equipment orders declined 22.2% in the July reporting period, and shipments declined 11.8%, versus a revised decline in orders of 13.8%, and a revised decrease in shipments of 7.6% in June. The Assembly & Test Equipment ratio for July was flat with revised June levels of 0.65. The book-to-bill ratio has been below 1.00 for the last five reporting periods. Test & assembly equipment orders in July declined 6.8% from revised June levels, following a revised 22.2% decline in June. Shipments in July declined 6.8%, versus a revised decline of 13.8% in June.