Japan microchip gear orders down 48.8 pct in April

TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) - Orders for Japanese semiconductor-making equipment fell by almost half in April as memory chip makers remained cautious on capital spending after sharp price falls, an industry group said on Thursday.

Orders fell 48.8 percent from the same month a year earlier to 79.63 billion yen ($761 million), data from the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan showed.

That was the largest percentage fall after orders plunged 51.9 percent in January.

Elpida Memory Inc (6665.T), the world's No.3 maker of DRAM computer memory chips, swung to a loss in January-March, hit by chip prices falling below manufacturing costs.

The association said, however, that a recent recovery in memory chip prices may lead to higher orders of tools used to make microchips towards the end of the year.

Elpida's clients agreed to pay 10 percent more for DRAM in April from end March, and have since agreed to a little less than a 10 percent rise in early May and a further 5 percent to 7 percent rise in late May.

Japan, the world's largest market for chip-producing tools, is home to such microchip equipment makers as Advantest Corp (6857.T), the world's largest supplier of chip testers.

Other Japanese suppliers of chip equipment include Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T), Disco Corp (6146.T), Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co Ltd (7735.T), Nikon Corp (7731.T), Canon Inc (7751.T) and Yokogawa Electric Corp (6841.T). (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)