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SEMI: North American October book-to-bill up slightly
By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 11/16/2007
According to the SEMI industry association late Thursday, North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.23 billion in orders in October on a three-month average basis and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.83, compared to September’s ratio of 0.81, later revised to 0.79, marking a mild improvement in equipment orders.
A book-to-bill of 0.83 means that $83 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month, SEMI reminded.
Still, these results reflect lower orders overall for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, also clearly shown in the fiscal Q4 sales for industry leader Applied Materials, released Wednesday, and further confirming a downturn in capital equipment spending.
| Billings (3-month average) |
Bookings (3-month average) |
Book-to-Bill | |
| May 2007 | $1.67 billion | $1.64 billion | 0.98 |
| June 2007 | $1.77 billion | $1.61 billion | 0.91 |
| July 2007 | $1.69 billion | $1.41 billion | 0.83 |
| August 2007 | $1.68 billion | $1.37 billion | 0.82 |
| September 2007 (final) | $1.56 billion | $1.24 billion | 0.79 |
| October 2007 (preliminary) | $1.49 billion | $1.23 billion | 0.83 |
The three-month average of worldwide bookings in October was $1.23 billion, which is flat with the final September level of $1.24 billion and 16 percent less than the $1.47 billion in orders posted in October 2006.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in October 2007 was $1.49 billion. The billings figure is about four percent less than the final September 2007 level of $1.56 billion and about five percent less than the October 2006 billings level of $1.56 billion.
Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI noted that actual sales of new semiconductor equipment have generally followed the bookings trends, which have declined sequentially since the cyclic peak in early summer.
“However, our expectation remains that 2007 equipment revenues will remain comparable to or slightly above 2006 sales,” he said in a statement.
SEMI’s book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.
