What's wrong with this picture?
According to Google News, these are today's interpretations of the latest Japanese book-to-bill ratios in the semiconductor industry:
Chip orders rise in Japan. Boston Globe - Orders for Japan-made chip-making equipment more than doubled in November compared with last year, signaling earnings at Tokyo Electron Ltd. and rival manufacturers may rise, an industry group said.
Japan's fab-tool book-to-bill remains flat Semiconductor Business News
Japan Nov chip equipment orders off 20 pct mth/mth Forbes
Each of the reports focuses on a different aspect of the story, but the crux of the matter is clearly stated in the second graph of the Forbes piece:
The November orders figure, while up 127.5 percent from a year ago, was also the lowest since February, the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan said.
Okay, so not to belabor the semiconductor industry is still in the doldrums in Japan, but this shows why editorial input is important and why total automation of news delivery could give one a very skewed view of reality.
Posted by Mitch Ratcliffe at December 30, 2002 12:15 PM | TrackBack