European Measuring Instruments Show First Signs of Recovery

摘要

With the winds of recovery beginning to blow in the semiconductor industry, patches of blue sky are showing in what had been an overcast measuring instruments market in Europe. Over the past couple of years, there weren't many new products introduced at international trade shows. However, visitors were actively making deals at Productronica 2003 in the fall of 2003. Many believe that the European market is better than it was two years ago, and there are signs of upward momentum. The market has picked up slowly, although it's still far from the boom market of the past. In Germany, the largest European market, orders picked up beginning in 2002. According to a survey conducted by the Zentralverband der Elektrotechnik und Elektronikindustrie (ZVEI) e.V., the German electrical and electronic manufacturers' association, orders in 2002 totaled 261.1 million euros (about ￥35.115 billion), down sharply from more than 340 million euros in 2001. However, ZVEI stressed that the 18.1 percent increase in the second half of 2002 from the first six months of the year, portended a recovery. Growth was especially noticeable in orders for measuring instruments for mobile phones and those for communications systems equipment. ZVEI attributed the pickup to the increased orders from and supplies to manufacturers related to third-generation (3G) communications systems or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and mobile phones. ZVEI also said it never expected that the drought would continue this long. The results of a survey conducted in the first half of 2003 have not been announced.