U.S. Semiconductor Market Stable During Month, Industry Says

Semiconductor industry business conditions remained favorable in the United States during January, the Semiconductor Industry Assn. said Wednesday.

“Continued stability in the U.S. market is a very good sign, and we are hopeful that conditions will get even better in the months ahead,” said SIA President Andrew A. Procassini.

“Future growth will depend upon improvement in the systems markets, particularly computers.”

Three-month average bookings or orders for January totaled $780.8 million, down less than 1% from $783.8 million for December. January bookings were 23.3% higher than in January, 1986.

At $645.9 million, billings or shipments for January were down 17.8% from the $786.1 million posted in December, partly because January was a four-week month and December a five-week month, the association said. January shipments were 16.2% higher than the cyclical billings low established a year earlier at $555.9 million.

Three-month average billings for January totaled $701.7 million. The result was a fourth consecutive monthly increase to 1.11 in the book-to-bill ratio, meaning manufacturers received $111 worth of new orders from U.S. plants for each $100 worth of silicon chips shipped in the United States during the month.

Statistics were compiled from a survey of key U.S., European and Japanese semiconductor manufacturers doing business in the U.S. market.