SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The fab-tool, book-to-bill ratios were mixed amid an IC downturn.
The U.S. book-to-bill reached parity in November, while Japan's ratio was 0.75. All told, the fab-tool market crashed in Q3 and there's no relief in sight for vendors.
Japanese-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.75 in November, down from 0.81 in October, according to the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).
North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.00 in November, up from 0.96 in September, according to SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.00 means that $100 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
''The book-to-bill ratio reached parity as billings have declined sharper than bookings over the past six months,'' said Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, in a statement. ''2008 is closing with expected declines on the year, which have been further exacerbated by the deepening seismic global economic
situation over the past quarter.''
The three-month average of worldwide bookings in November 2008 was $805.4 million. The bookings figure is about 4 percent less than the final October 2008 level of $839.7 million, and about 29 percent less than the $1.13 billion in orders posted in November 2007.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in November 2008 was $807.3 million. The billings figure is about 7 percent less than the final October 2008 level of $871.4 million, and about 42 percent less than the November 2007 billings level of $1.38 billion.
Indeed, the news is gloomy. Semiconductor equipment spending is projected to decline 30.6 percent in 2008 and another 31.7 percent in 2009, according to a revised forecast issued Thursday (Dec. 18) by market research firm Gartner Inc.
ASML Holding NV this week said that it plans to cut 1,000 jobs due to poor order volumes. On the backend, probe-card supplier FormFactor Inc. this week said that Q4 revenues will come in at $37-to-$41 million, well below the prior guidance of $48-to-$55 million.
Here is FBR's take on FormFactor: ''We believe the shortfall was driven by: (1) Nill demand from DRAM and flash-type customers; (2) all planned technology migrations (to smaller nodes) put on hold (with the exception of Samsung); (3) quarter-over-quarter changes in DRAM bit changing from growth
to contraction; (4) not much demand for DDR3, and thus no need to upgrade (probe card technology) for such applications; and (5) there are still not many non-microprocessor revenues from the logic market.''
On the material side, silicon wafer supplier MEMC, this week ''lowered 4Q '08 guidance, with the revenue range reduced, from $475-$525 million to $400-$425 million,'' according to FBR.
''We attribute 50-60 percent of the shortfall to lower-than-expected semi wafer unit shipments, with the remainder driven by the company's refusal to ship poly/solar wafers to 'spot' market customers who cannot pay in cash,'' according to the firm.
RSS
Digital
RSS| 
Digital| 
Mobile
