SAN JOSE, Calif. — North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.96 for October, up from the revised 0.94 figure in September, according to the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade group on Monday (Nov. 22).
A book-to-bill of 0.96 means that $96 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.
SEMI (San Jose, Calif.) appears to have reduced its preliminary book-to-bill ratio from September. Originally, the trade group said that North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.96 for September (see Oct. 18 story).
Meanwhile, the three-month average of worldwide bookings in October 2004 was $1.39 billion. The bookings figure is 3 percent above the revised September 2004 level of $1.35 billion and 60 percent above the $871.0 million in orders posted in October 2003.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in October 2004 was $1.44 billion. The billings figure is essentially even with the revised September 2004 level and 67 percent above the October 2003 billings level of $866.5 million.
"The overall semiconductor equipment sector will post the second greatest gain on record in 2004. It is also several months into a period of order softening," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, in a statement.
"Total equipment bookings for North American producers have declined thirteen percent from the cyclic peak observed in June," he said. "Given recent announcements from several equipment companies, continued moderation in orders is expected until end market visibility strengthens for the semiconductor manufacturers."
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