A book-to-bill of 0.78 means that $78 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. 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.

In January, SEMI originally reported a book-to-bill of 0.80. Bookings were at their lowest levels since late-2003, according to SEMI (San Jose) (see Feb. 17 story).

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in February 2005 was $1.03 billion. The bookings figure is 4 percent above the revised January 2004 level of $0.99 billion and 22 percent below the $1.32 billion in orders posted in February 2004.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in February 2005 was $1.32 billion. The billings figure is 5 percent above the revised January 2004 level of $1.26 billion and 15 percent above the February 2004 billings level of $1.14 billion.

"Current three-month average bookings are at a level observed in late 2003," said Dan P. Tracy, senior director of SEMI Industry Research & Statistics, in a statement. "Given the 300-mm investment and ramp underway worldwide, the expectation remains for a much more moderated equipment cycle in 2005 compared to the 2001/2002 time frame."

It appears that the industry is slowing to a halt. Japanese-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.83 in February, down from 0.94 in January, according to new figures from the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) on Thursday (March 17) (see March 17 story).

In comparison, the book-to-bill ratio for the worldwide semiconductor equipment industry slid further to 0.84 in February, down from 0.88 in January, according to VLSI Research Inc. (see March 15 story).