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Cabot affected by lower semiconductor fab utilization rates |
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Jan 25, 2007 at 03:13 PM |
 Cabot Microelectronics Corporation has seen a 6 percent drop in revenues in the fourth quarter of 2006 due to chip manufacturers reducing fab loadings as inventories are built, especially in the communications sector.
William Noglows, Chairman and CEO of Cabot Microelectronics, said: "This quarter saw a continuation of some general softening of demand in the industry, and we believe our revenue in the first fiscal quarter reflected that."
This affected major chip manufacturers such as ST Microelectronics, Intel Corp. as well as the major foundries such as TSMC, which have all recently reported lower utilization rates this year.
As Cabot provides approximately 50 percent of the CMP polishing slurries required on primarily 180nm and below devices, Cabot's revenues can reflect a broad-based decline in IC production, especially in logic IC manufacturing.
The company had initiated price rises on older technology node slurries last year due to rising costs. However, the company also noted that average selling prices in the quarter decreased by 2.1 percent compared to the prior quarter. Cabot attributed this primarily to a lower-priced product mix.
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