German chip market stagnates in May 2007

The growth rates are due to weak months in the previous year. Orders decreased in May slightly compared to April 2007. Nevertheless the market expectations are still positive. This is mainly caused by increased revenues in the optoelectronics and discrete semiconductor market. The market growth in Germany for the first five months of 2007 is 2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The growth rate in Germany is comparable to the growth of the European market. Other regions of the world experienced a slower growth in the last months, whereas America experienced even decreased revenues. The book-to-bill ratio in Germany, an indicator for the medium-term trend, was 0.96 in May 2007 and by far lower than in the previous month. December 2006, 1.02 January 2007, 1.02 February 2007, 1.03 March 2007, 0.98 April 2007, 0.99 May in 2007, 0.96 (preliminary) Remarks: Except for the cumulated values the indicated numbers refer to a three month average.