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Sunday, Sep. 27, 1998
Global sales of equipment for making chips is falling
29.3% drop in July is third straight month of decline
Associated Press
TOKYO -- Global sales of equipment used to make microchips slumped 29.3 percent in July, the third straight month of decline, as cuts in spending on equipment by many Japanese and South Korean microchip-makers took their toll, industry figures show.
Worldwide sales of equipment used in the microchip-making process totaled $1.705 billion in July, the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan said. Orders for equipment, trends for which precede sales by several months, fell in July for the eighth straight month.
The drop in sales reflects cuts in spending on equipment by Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of computer memory chips, and many of Japan's largest chipmakers, including NEC Corp., Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd.
Sales slowed in the U.S., the largest single market for such equipment. Sales there totaled $591 million in July, accounting for more than a third of sales worldwide.
Cumulative U.S. sales for the April-July period were 9.5 percent lower than the same period a year earlier. Sales had surged 39.4 percent over the year ended March 31. Japan, the second-largest market for semiconductor-making equipment, had sales of $322 million in July. Cumulative sales for April through July were down 21.7 percent from a year earlier, reflecting cuts in spending on equipment by NEC and Japan's other chipmakers.
South Korean sales plummeted to $112 million during the month and have tumbled 40.6 percent since April, a sign of the impact of the won's sharp depreciation which has cast the economy into its worst recession in over 50 years.
Sales of microchip-making equipment in South Korea fell 15.8 percent in the year ended March 31, the largest decline of any market tracked by the SEAJ.
European sales totaled $256 million in July, and sales for April through July were up 19.6 percent, the only regional market to show growth of more than 10 percent. Taiwanese sales gained to $304 million in July.
Chipmaking-equipment sales figures tend to lag order numbers by up to half a year.Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web