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.