North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted US$599 million in orders in August 2009 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.03, according to SEMI. The three-month average of worldwide bookings represents a 5% growth on month, but an about 31% decrease from US$866.8 million in orders posted a year ago.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in August was US$579.9 million, up 8% sequentially but down just over 45% compared to the August 2008 billings level of US$1.06 billion, said SEMI.
"Equipment bookings have increased for five months in a row as market conditions recover from the very low levels reported earlier this year," said SEMI president and CEO Stanley Myers. "With semiconductor device sales and fab capacity utilization improving over recent months, we expect equipment spending to follow a similar trend during the recovery."
The book-to-bill of 1.03 means that US$103 worth of orders was received for every US$100 of product billed for August 2009.
| SEMI: North America semiconductor equipment book-to-bill ratio, March-August 2009 (US$m) | |||
| Date | Billings (Three-month avg.) | Bookings (Three-month avg.) | Book-to-bill |
| March 2009 | 438.3 | 245.6 | 0.56 |
| April 2009 | 385.7 | 249.0 | 0.65 |
| May 2009 | 392.6 | 287.8 | 0.73 |
| June 2009 | 440.5 | 351.7 | 0.80 |
| July 2009 (final) | 538.0 | 571.8 | 1.06 |
| August (prelim) | 579.9 | 599.0 | 1.03 |
Source: SEMI, compiled by Digitimes, September 2009
Article translated by Jessie Shen
