April 20, 2005 – North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.02 billion in orders in March 2005 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.81, according to SEMI’s March 2005 Book-to-Bill Report.

A book-to-bill of 0.81 means that $81 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in March 2005 was $1.02 billion. The bookings figure is nominally below the revised February 2005 level of $1.02 billion and 26% below the $1.38 billion in orders posted in March 2004.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in March 2005 was $1.27 billion. The billings figure is 5% below the revised February 2005 level of $1.33 billion and approximately even with the March 2004 billings level of $1.27 billion.

Adding up totals for the first three months of published SEMI data, bookings in 1Q05 were $3.03 billion, down 23% from 4Q04 and 22.7% from 1Q04. Billings of $3.86 billion decreased 5.6% sequentially, but were still clinging to double-digit year-on-year growth at 12.0%.

“The overall picture for North America-based manufacturers of new semiconductor equipment remains essentially unchanged,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “Three-month average total equipment bookings are hovering above the one billion dollar level.”