February 18, 2005 – North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.01 billion in orders in January 2005 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.80, according to the January 2005 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.80 means that $80 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in January 2005 was $1.01 billion. The bookings figure is 18% below the revised December 2004 level of $1.24 billion and 18% below the $1.23 billion in orders posted in January 2004.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in January 2005 was $1.27 billion. The billings figure is 4% below the revised December 2004 level of $1.32 billion and 23% above the January 2004 billings level of $1.03 billion.

“The three-month average bookings figure for new semiconductor equipment is now at the lowest level since November 2003,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “Total bookings declined sharply in January and are now about 37 percent below the cyclic peak observed in June 2004.”

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.