SEMI: April book-to-bill shows strong gains in orders and shipments

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 5/23/2007

It was an equally strong month in April for both orders and shipments of semiconductor equipment, according to the latest report from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted $1.6 billion in orders in April, and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.00, according to the April Book-to-Bill report published Tuesday by 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 three-month average of worldwide bookings in April was $1.6 billion, SEMI said, about 12 percent higher than the final March level of $1.42 billion and even with the $1.6 billion in orders posted in April 2006.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in April was $1.6 billion, up 11 percent from the final March level of $1.44 billion and almost 11 percent higher than the April 2006 billings level of $1.44 billion.

"This year, several large integrated device manufacturers are believed to be investing a substantial part of their capex in the first quarter. This is one reason that the April book to bill report shows strong gains in both billings and bookings for new semiconductor equipment from North American based suppliers," Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, said in a statement. "Updated figures also show relative equilibrium of orders and shipments over the past few months, reflecting continued market stability for North American providers of chip making equipment."