Order spike may presage chip recovery
A trade group says that orders for semiconductor equipment in North America rose 14 percent from February to March, suggesting that the ailing industry may be recovering.
A preliminary measure of March orders released by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International showed orders of $838.8 million and shipments of $808.1 million. Revised February numbers showed orders of $737.2 million and shipments of $818.0 million.
The figures established that the ratio of orders to shipments, also known as book-to-bill, rose to 1.04, from a February book-to-bill value of 0.90. A higher ratio suggests to some analysts that the industry has performed better.
But orders were still 30 percent below the $1.2 billion in orders posted in March of last year.
"While we look for further confirmation of a recovery in the semiconductor equipment market, the improving trends are encouraging," said Stanley Myers, chief executive of SEMI.
The results topped a forecast by Goldman Sachs analyst James Covello of a book-to-bill ratio of 0.90 and orders of $745 million. Covello also said he no longer expects the drop in global chip-equipment spending to be as severe as he previously believed, as chipmakers bump up their capital spending for the year.
Covello said he expects capital spending to be down 20 percent in 2002, from an earlier forecast of a drop of 22 percent.
The chip industry has been battered for over a year by a drop in consumer and corporate technology spending, and by overall economic weakness.
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