Chip industry, continuing to recover, plans new index to reflect global sales
Article Abstract:
The Semiconductor Industry Assoc (SIA) announces that it will abandon the traditional book-to-bill ratio in favor of a revised sales index scheme that will emphasize the international market. The book-to-bill ratio has been the association's benchmark since it was implemented in 1978, and provides a measurement of an industry's fiscal health by comparing sales and orders data. The method has been criticized for its emphasis on the American market, and is considered by some analysts to be largely responsible for theinvestor anxiety that brought microprocessor chip prices to a low level in 1996. Although the SIA maintained a separate sales index that reflected prices on the world market, the information lacked the currency of the book-to-bill figures. In Jan 1997, the SIA will launch a world sales index that is expected to provide a more realistic picture of the semiconductor industry. World chip sales for Oct 1996 amounted to $3.39 billion, which is down 19.6% from the year-earlier figure of $4.22 billion.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1996
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Deja vu? Microsoft and Intel are trying to do in networks what they did in PCs. But war isn't over yet
Article Abstract:
Microsoft and Intel are now focusing their efforts on the networking market, which may prove to be the most lucrative segment of the computing industry. The companies plan a similar approach to the one they employed in gaining dominance in the PC industry, they intend to flood the market with low-cost, but effective, products that will become the industry standard. Companies are looking to networks as a way to lower operating costs and simplify communications. The server market reached $60 billion in 1995 and Wintel technology is expected to account for one-third of this market by the end of the decade. The network market has been based on low-volume sales of high profit margin proprietary devices, but the Wintel approach will alter this practice dramatically. The Wintel approach will be based on Intel's Pentium Pro processor and a new version of Microsoft's Windows NT network operating system.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1996
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