A combination of lower inventories and shorter lead times in the semiconductor industry produced an October book-to-bill ratio of 0.92, down from 0.97 in September. The Semiconductor Industry Association reports that October shipments to the US market plunged 21.6% compared with the September figure to $1016.0m and that the figure was also 9.3% down on the figure for July at $1,120.5m – but 13.3% up on the figure one year ago, and 82.8% up on the cyclical low in January 1986. Average monthly orders for the three months to October were 8.7% down on the figure for the three months to September at $1064.4m. The order rate is slowing down substantially, with the October figure 16.6% down on September, 16.6% down on July, and only 5.8% higher than the figure for October 1987. Three-month average shipments for the period to October were $1162.6m to give the book-to-bill ratio of 0.92.
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