Who's to blame for poor semiconductor equipment B-to-B?

NEW TRIPOLI, USA: Today I want to duscuss the Semiconductor Equipment Industry and the relationship between our PLIs and billings, which are supplied by SEMI.

Clearly, up until this present cycle there is strong correlation between our PLIs and Semiconductor Equipment Billings. In the past four months there has been a disconnect - flat for the first three months and a drop in billings last month.

There is an expression I have utilized for a long time - if corporate results are good, blame it on the CEO. If results are bad, blame it on the economy.

OK, where's the blame? It isn't the ecomomy. Maybe it's the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) factor. Maybe, its wrong data from SEMI. Maybe its Obamacare? Maybe, and I hate to say this, its the CEO?

The author is president, The Information Network, USA.