The Japanese Ministry of International Trade & Industry is forecasting a slight increase in Japan’s demand for semiconductors in the July-to-December period, based on expectations of economy-boosting measures now being discussed by the government – Reuter quotes a MITI official saying, there’s a sign that demand will pick up but this does not mean it has hit bottom – demand may fall depending on the future course of the economy; demand for 4M-bit memory chips is seen rising to 39.1m in the half from an estimated 26m in the first half of calendar 1992 and output of 4Ms is projected at 133.3m in the second half against an estimated 101.5m in the previous six months; domestic demand for 1M-bit dynamics is seen rising to 79.2m in the second half from an estimated 77.2m in the first, but output is expected to fall to 165.4m from 173.3m in the previous six months; and demand for 256K statics is seen at 80.2m in the second half against 72.3m in the first half, with output rising to 99.9m in the half, from 95.4m.
