February 16, 2007 – North American suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment enjoyed a double-digit boost in demand for their tools to kickstart the year, and sales picked up as well, mainly due to capacity investments from memory firms, according to the latest data from SEMI.
Worldwide billings (a three-month average) totaled $1.617 billion in January, a 9.1% increase from December, and 28.4% higher than January 2006. Bookings, meanwhile, rose 14.1% sequentially and almost 40% year-on-year to $1.708 billion. The January B:B rose to 1.06, meaning that $106 worth of orders were received for
every $100 of product billed for the month.
The final tally for December billings ended up slightly better than projected (+2.2% from initial estimates or an extra ~$32 million). Bookings, meanwhile, were slightly lower (-1.5%, ~$23 million), which dropped the final December book-to-bill (B:B) from a projected 1.05 to 1.01, but still above parity.
The reason for the boost in January: sustained investments from global memory chipmakers, according to Stanley Myers, president/CEO of SEMI, in a statement.
North American equipment bookings, billings — December 2006
Month…….Billings…….%M-M………%Y-Y……….Bookings……..%M-M……..% Y-Y………B:B
………… (3-mo. avg.)……………………………………(3-mo. avg.)……………………………………..
Jan’06………1259.4…….2.9%………0.1%……….1225.9……..7.3%…….24.3%……..0.97
Feb’06………1283.3…….1.9%……..-3.6%……….1293.2……..5.5%…….26.3%……..1.01
Mar’06………1338.7…….4.3%………5.2%……….1385.3……..7.1%…….40.2%……..1.03
Apr’06………1448.5…….8.2%……..16.9%……….1602.4…….15.7%…….60.4%……..1.11
May’06………1452.6…….0.3%……..19.8%……….1619.0……..1.0%…….59.5%……..1.11
June’06……..1557.4…….7.2%……..35.2%……….1782.3…….10.1%…….71.7%……..1.14
July’06……..1637.9…….5.2%……..51.9%……….1734.6…….-2.7%…….72.2%……..1.06
Aug’06………1742.8…….6.4%……..65.1%……….1729.7…….-0.3%…….69.6%……..0.99
Sep’06………1672.8……-4.0%……..53.7%……….1639.2…….-5.2%…….66.6%……..0.98
Oct’06………1562.9……-6.6%……..36.4%……….1468.6……-10.4%…….34.3%……..0.94
Nov’06 (f)…..1486.1……-4.9%……..26.0%……….1426.5…….-2.8%…….30.5%……..0.96
Dec’06 (f)…..1482.3…..-0.20%…….21.10%……….1497.2…….5.00%……31.00%…….1.01
Jan’07 (p)…..1617.2……9.10%…….28.41%……….1708.2……14.09%……39.34%…….1.06
WaferNEWS source: SEMI