Strong 3rd Quarter for Semiconductor Firms

SAN FRANCISCO —  A key measure of the outlook for U.S. computer chip manufacturers, the book-to-bill ratio, declined to 1.04 in September from 1.06 in August, the Semiconductor Industry Assn. said Friday.

But despite the decline, a spokesman for the trade group said the figures showed an unusually strong quarterly performance for semiconductor companies.

Doug Andrey, SIA’s manager of industry statistical programs, said: “However, one must note that the third quarter 1987 is the first time that orders have exceeded shipments in a third quarter since the boom year of 1983.”

The SIA said the August figure for the three-month book-to-bill ratio, which compares the dollar worth of new chip orders from customers in the United States with the value of chips shipped, had been revised to 1.06 from 1.08. In addition, the SIA also revised the July ratio to 1.13 from 1.15.

Billings, or shipments, of semiconductors to U.S. customers were worth $1.05 billion in September, 19% higher than in August, the SIA said. September billings were the highest since September, 1984, according to the SIA.

Also, the three-month average billings totalled $930.2 million, and the average monthly bookings, or orders, for the three months ended September were $965.7 million.