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UPDATE 1-Japan chip gear orders down 68 pct in October
[November 19, 2008]

UPDATE 1-Japan chip gear orders down 68 pct in October


TOKYO, Nov 19, 2008 (Reuters via COMTEX) --
Orders for Japanese equipment used to make
semiconductors fell 68 percent in October from the same month last year as chip
makers slashed or froze spending, calculations based on industry data showed on
Wednesday.
It was the 20th straight month of year-on-year declines as the financial
crisis hurts consumer appetite for electronics, and even big chip makers such as
Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd cut spending.
Orders in October for equipment used to process wafers, print circuitry
on them, cut them into chips and test them came to 39.18 billion yen ($403.9
million), down from 123.17 billion yen the previous year and down 45 percent
from the previous month, the calculations showed.
The Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan said the book-to-bill
ratio was 0.81 in October, as orders fell short of sales for the second straight
month. The ratio means new orders worth 81 yen were received for every 100 yen
of products delivered.
Based on the preliminary report, which gives three-month moving averages
of orders and sales, sales in October came to 44.24 billion yen, down 63.5
percent from the previous year.



Japan is home to semiconductor gear makers such as Tokyo Electron Ltd,
Advantest Corp, Disco Corp , Yokogawa Electric Corp and Nikon Corp .
(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Chris Gallagher) ($1=97.01 Yen)
Keywords: CHIPS/

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