SEMI: North American equipment orders continue downward trend

By Suzanne Deffree, News Editor -- Electronic News, 9/20/2007

North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.39 billion in orders in August on a three-month average and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.83, according to San Jose-based industry association Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

A book-to-bill of 0.83 means that $83 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings for the month was $1.39 billion, down about 1 percent from the final July level of $1.41 billion and a stark 19 percent less than the $1.73 billion in orders posted in August 2006.

Meanwhile, the three-month average of worldwide billings in August was $1.69 billion, even with July’s level of $1.69 billion and down 3 percent compared to August 2006 billings of $1.74 billion. July’s book-to-bill ratio for North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was 0.84.

"Orders reported by North American equipment companies continue to trend downward, as expected, and are 15 percent below the May peak,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, in a statement.

Bookings hit $1.67 billion in May, a month that the industry association reported a book-to-bill of 1.0 for North American equipment companies.

SEMI does not seem concerned by the year-over-year decreases, however. “Total worldwide 2007 equipment revenues remain on course to be comparable to 2006 sales,” Myers said.

SEMI’s forecast for a flat year is nothing new. The group’s mid-year capital equipment consensus forecast also indicated just 1 percent growth for the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market to $40.9 billion, following 23 percent growth in 2006.