SAN JOSE — The 90-day moving average bookings at North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers in April jumped 22.5% over last year and 10.8% over the revised March 2014 levels. Orders reached $1.44 billion for the period, said SEMI.

BOSTON -- Global smartwatch shipments grew 250% in the first quarter over last year, thanks in large part to Samsung.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Worldwide IT spending will increase by 4.1% in constant currency this year, IDC said, down from its previous forecast of 4.6%. The good news is the worst is likely over, and pentup demand will accelerate overall IT sales through the rest of the year, the research firm said. 

NEW YORK --  A leading semiconductor analyst says expected 2014 sales growth is 8.4% year-over-year, lower than last month's forecast of 11.9%. Mike Cowan is basing his updated estimate on March global semiconductor sales as reported by the WSTS, which came in at $331.335 billion.