November 23, 2004 – North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.39 billion in orders in October 2004 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.96, according to SEMI.

A book-to-bill of 0.96 means that $96 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in October 2004 was $1.39 billion. The bookings figure is 3% above the revised September 2004 level of $1.35 billion and 60% above the $871.0 million in orders posted in October 2003.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in October 2004 was $1.44 billion. The billings figure is essentially even with the revised September 2004 level and 67%above the October 2003 billings level of $866.5 million.

“The overall semiconductor equipment sector will post the second greatest gain on record in 2004. It is also several months into a period of order softening,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “Total equipment bookings for North American producers have declined 13% from the cyclic peak observed in June. Given recent announcements from several equipment companies, continued moderation in orders is expected until end market visibility strengthens for the semiconductor manufacturers.”

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 US dollars.