Semiconductor revenue beats<br>again previous month

Revenue was, however, only four percent lower compared to the same month of the previous year. In October revenue was two percent lower compared to the same month of the previous year, in September four percent lower. The cumulated growth in Germany in the first eleven months 2006 was around three percent lower than during the same period of time of the previous year. The ZVEI keeps on expecting a minus of three percent compared to 2005. The Book-to-Bill-Ratio*), an indicator for the medium-term trend, reached in November 0.98 and is still below 1.00. June 2006, 1.01 July 2006, 1.01 August 2006, 1.07 September 2006, 0.98 October 2006, 0.98 November 2006, 0.98 (preliminary) The revenue increase in the fourth quarter is according to ZVEI parallel to the previous year. This development is based in particular on, the good development of "discrete, optoelectronics and sensor components" that probably will show eight percent growth in 2006. On the other hand the revenue of ICs is still decreasing. Reminder: The indicated numbers refer except for the cumulated values to three month means. The indicated growth values are previous through a change in the date investigation with beginning 1999 up to 3 months, that is until then corrections are to be expected. *) Characterizes the ratio of orders to revenue, i.e. a BK/BL ratio of 1.10 means orders of 1.10 Euro compared to a revenue of 1.00 Euro. Legal Notice This item is based on a press release from ZVEI. It has been translated from German to English by Evertiq New Media AB. Any copying or re-publishing of this translation is strictly forbidden. Violation of this may be subjected to Prosecution.