It's cooling off but orders are still humming along

Order activity for semiconductor equipment fell nearly three points in the third week of June, slipping below the 100-degree mark for the first time this year
The recent declines are bringing the order activity down to earth; however, at 99 degrees it’s still hot and well above the growth-decline line
Chipmakers, especially on the Memory side, are becoming more cautious about the outlook due to slowing consumer demand and rising levels of inventories
- No impact on the equipment suppliers yet, where the biggest issues remain supply related
There were some modest changes made to the forecasts in June as most of the data came in line with our expectations
- The equipment forecast was lowered from 20% to 18% as persisting supply chain constraints continue to weigh on the near-term numbers
- The IC forecast for 2022 remained largely unchanged at 16%, but the 2023 forecast got a 2-point haircut due to an increasing inventory correction risk in 2023
TechInsights’ Chip Price Performance Index continued to warn
- DRAM slid
- NAND declined
- MPUs slid
Utilization levels remain elevated