North American semi equipment February book-to-bill shows conservative capex spending

Manufacturers of semiconductor equipment in North America posted $1.23 billion in orders for February on a three-month average basis and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93 according to industry association SEMI.

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 3/19/2008

Manufacturers of semiconductor equipment in North America posted $1.23 billion in orders for February on a three-month average basis and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93 according to industry association SEMI.

A book-to-bill of 0.93 means that $93 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

SEMI also noted that the three-month average of worldwide bookings in February was $1.23 billion, which is approximately 8% higher than the final January level of $1.14 billion, but 12% less than the $1.40 billion in orders posted in February 2007.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in February was $1.32 billion, which is approximately 3% greater than the final January level of $1.28 billion, but about 8% less than the February 2007 billings level of $1.42 billion.

Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI commented in a statement, “The three month average for North American bookings and billings improved slightly in February, however they remain at levels below those reported last year. Though current inventory and utilization rates are at healthy levels, device manufacturers are being conservative in their capex spending.”

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. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.