September 21, 2005 – North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.12 billion in orders in August 2005 and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.05, according to SEMI’s August 2005 Book-to-Bill Report. “The book-to-bill ratio is above parity for the first time in a year driven in large part by orders for test and assembly equipment,” said SEMI president and CEO Stanley T. Myers.

“While the wafer processing equipment segment has yet to see the same growth levels as the final manufacturing segment, our industry views the overall trend as a positive indicator,” Myers said.

A book-to-bill of 1.05 means that $105 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in August 2005 was $1.12 billion. The bookings figure is about 11% above the revised July 2005 level of $1.01 billion and 26% below the $1.51 billion in orders posted in August 2004.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in August 2005 was $1.07 billion. The billings figure is 1%below the revised July 2005 level of $1.08 billion and 29% below the August 2004 billings level of $1.50 billion.

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.