The Semiconductor Industry Association’s book-to-bill ratio disappointed the pundits by remaining flat at 1.13 for March, where an increase had been forecast; February’s figure had been announced as a preliminary 1.15 but has been revised downwards to 1.13. The forecasters see last month’s figure as the peak before the summer doldrums set in, and analysts had been hoping for 1.17. Average monthly orders for the three months to March were $2,720m, up 2.8% on the February figure. Shipments for March on the same three-month moving average, were $2,400m up 2.3% on the February figure. Actual shipments in March were $2,668m, an increase of 14.1% from the February figure, and 21.2% higher than the figure recorded in March 1993 of $2,202m.
