Electronics Production |
Regressive Semiconductor market in Germany in May 2006
Frankfurt am Main, 22nd June 2006 - The semiconductor revenue in Germany decreased in May compared to the (corrected) previous month in parallel to a weaker dollar. Revenue was same as in May of the previous year. Compared to the previous month the revenue increased in April around one percent and decreased around one percent in March.
Unexpectedly clear was the drop of orders. This was mainly caused by a weaker dollar and a surprising strong drop in all microprocessor market segments. This also had consequences on the total market. The same development was observed also in Europe and worldwide.
Cumulated the semiconductor market descended in Germany in the first five months of the year 2006 around one percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Because of the recent development the expectations for the year 2006 are only slightly optimistic.
The Book-to-Bill-Ratio*), an indicator for the medium-term trend, continued to drop in the last month down to 0.92.
December 2005: 0.98
January 2006: 1.02
February 2006: 1.05
March 2006: 1.03
April 2006: 0.99
May 2006: 0.92 (preliminary)
Note: Except for the cumulated values the indicated numbers refer to three month means. Because of a change in the data collection beginning 1999 the indicated growth values are preliminary; final data is expected within the next 3 months.
*) Characterizes the ratio of orders to sales, e.g. a ratio of 1.10 means orders of 1.10 Euro at a revenue of 1.00 Euro.
