Reply #4: August chip equipment orders fall

[UpInArms]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/17/technology/chip_equipment.reut/

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - North American semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers reported that orders fell in August after nearly a year of growth, a U.S. trade group said Thursday, adding that orders may weaken further in coming months.

Orders for equipment used to produce microchips reached $1.52 billion in August, down 5 percent from July, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International said in a monthly update.

Orders were still more than double the same month last year, when the chip industry ordered $731.8 million in equipment.


Billings, or shipments, were $1.51 billion in August, down 1 percent from July and up 90 percent from a year earlier. The ratio of orders to shipments, known as the book-to-bill ratio, was 1.00 in August, meaning that for every $100 of products shipped, an equal amount of new orders were received.

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