Global Chip Equipment Sales Rise 48 Percent
TOKYO (Reuters) - Global sales of chip-making equipment rose 48.8 percent in December from the previous month to $2.59 billion, an industry group said on Monday, citing strong spending by Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese chip makers.
The December figure was up 38.7 percent from a year earlier, marking the fifth straight month of year-on-year rises, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said in a preliminary release.
The volatile data is largely seasonal, but the December figure was the biggest since April 2001, when the industry racked up $2.87 billion in sales as the IT bubble was drawing to a close.
Global sales of chip-making equipment totaled $22.1 billion in calendar 2003, up 11.9 percent from the previous year.
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Global Chip Equipment Sales Rise 48 Percent