Chip sales confirm no Microsoft Vista boom

According to Bruce Diesen, senior analyst at Terra Securities ASA, "inventories and expectations for Vista were too high at the end of Q4."

See How Microsoft pretends to flog Vista and Mystery of Microsoft Vista sales stays unanswered.

Other figures delivered by the analyst confirm anecdotal evidence that mobile phone sales continue to burst through the roof in so-called emerging markets.

But fab capacity was down in the quarter. Terra reckons 1.7 million eight inch equivalent wafers were produced every week of the first calendar quarter - an 11.5 per cent YoY increase and up by 8. 5 per cent since calendar Q4 2006.

Diesen said average prices rose from $79 to $91 in March. That "showed a better mix of notebook and server chips than in February, but it has been a while since processors have sold for $100 or more," he said. µ

L'INQ
Terra