Semi equipment sales, bookings tumble again

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The semiconductor equipment sector's outlook turned grimmer in November, with sales and orders continuing their relentless second-half slide thanks to high chip inventory, weak PC demand and uncertain global economic conditions.

Bookings fell 3 percent from October to $720.4 million, while billings tumbled 7.5 percent to $911.9 million, according to the sector's industry trade group SEMI. The figures are 26 and 22 percent lower than those for the November 2011.

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers.

The November figures represent a book-to-bill ratio of 0.79 (79 cents in new orders booked for every $1 in product revenue), which edged back up from October's year-low of 0.75.

"Economic headwinds, higher chip inventory levels, and soft PC demand are among the factors tempering chip makers’ investment in additional manufacturing capacity," said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  "Softening in the market for new semiconductor manufacturing equipment has persisted through the second half of 2012 and the November equipment billings are at a three-year low."

	Billings (3-mo. avg)	Bookings (3-mo. avg)	Book-to-Bill
May 2012	1,539.3	1,613.7	1.05
June 2012	1,535.7	1,424.3	0.93
July 2012	1,442.8	1,234.6	0.86
August 2012	1,331.5	1,092.9	0.82
September 2012 (final)	1,164.4	912.8	0.78
October 2012 (revised)	986.5	743.2	0.75
November 2012 (prelim)	911.9	720.4	0.79

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