News Article
Equipment orders up in January
The equipment industry posted worldwide bookings of $5.14B in January 2006, according to VLSI Research Inc. Bookings increased 2% from December 2005.
The equipment industry posted worldwide bookings of $5.14B in January 2006, according to VLSI Research Inc. Bookings increased 2% from December 2005. This growth, although modest, represents a departure from the typical seasonal slowdown that occurs at this time of the year. It also marks the continuation of a positive trend in equipment orders that began in the second half of 2005. On a year-over-year basis, January's bookings are 15% higher than those from January 2005.
Worldwide billings dropped 14% from the previous month to $4.18B. The resulting B:B ratio was 1.23. Of the total billings, IC equipment sales amounted to $3.59B and display equipment sales were at $0.59B.
Utilisation rates have begun their seasonal decline. Front-end utilisation fell 5 percentage points to 86% in January. Test and Assembly utilisation rates dropped to 93% and 91%, respectively. In comparison, front-end utilisation averaged 95% in 4Q05, with Test at 98% and Assembly at 92%.
The following table summarises VLSI's latest findings:
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Worldwide billings dropped 14% from the previous month to $4.18B. The resulting B:B ratio was 1.23. Of the total billings, IC equipment sales amounted to $3.59B and display equipment sales were at $0.59B.
Utilisation rates have begun their seasonal decline. Front-end utilisation fell 5 percentage points to 86% in January. Test and Assembly utilisation rates dropped to 93% and 91%, respectively. In comparison, front-end utilisation averaged 95% in 4Q05, with Test at 98% and Assembly at 92%.
The following table summarises VLSI's latest findings:
