August 19, 2005 – North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.02 billion in orders in July 2005 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93 according to the July 2005 Book-to-Bill Report published today by 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.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in July 2005 was $1.02 billion. The bookings figure is about 2% below the revised June 2005 level of $1.04 billion and 36% below the $1.59 billion in orders posted in July 2004.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in July 2005 was $1.10 billion. The billings figure is 5% below the revised June 2005 level of $1.15 billion and 28% below the July 2004 billings level of $1.53 billion.

“North American providers of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment continue to post overall bookings levels in 2005 that are below those in 2004 but stronger than the prior year,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “The current data suggests that semiconductor manufacturers continue to remain somewhat cautious about increased capital spending as we enter the second half of the year.”

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.