SAN JOSE – Wafer starts per week at semiconductor houses during the first quarter slipped to about 68% of overall capacity, the SIA said today.

That’s down from nearly 90% a year ago, and about 77% in the last quarter.

Capacity utilization slipped to about 57%, down from 69% in the fourth quarter. It marked the fourth straight quarter utilization rates have dropped.

For discretes only, wafer starts per week dropped to 74%, down 10 points sequentially and 16 points from a year ago. The utilization rate plunged well below 60%, from 70% in the fourth quarter and 82% a year ago.

Semiconductor data are expressed in 8" equivalent wafers. Discrete data are expressed in 6" equivalent wafers.

The overall semiconductor capacity utilization rate was 58% in the first quarter, down from almost 70% in the fourth quarter.

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