Equipment Makers Crawl Out of the Slump.

Industries In Transition, September, 2003

Standard & Poor's semiconductor equipment equity analyst has published his latest survey of the sector, in which he forecasts stronger 2004 sales growth for makers of chip manufacturing equipment following a moderate increase this year. The survey, Industry Survey on Semiconductor Equipment, is published twice yearly by Standard & Poor's, a leading provider of independent research, indices and ratings.

"We expect worldwide semiconductor equipment sales to grow 5% this year, near the low-end of our earlier estimate for the year, followed by a much stronger increase in 2004," says Richard Tortoriello, Semiconductor Equipment Equity Analyst, Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services and author of the survey. "Two factors, we believe, will drive this growth. Continued...