(December 22, 2010) — North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.51 billion in orders in November 2010 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.96, according to the November 2010 Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.96 means that $96 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in November 2010 was $1.51 billion. The bookings figure is 5.3% lower than the final October 2010 level of $1.59 billion, and is 90.6% above the $791.8 million in orders posted in November 2009.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in November 2010 was $1.57 billion. The billings figure is down 3.4% from the final October 2010 level of $1.62 billion, and is 110.7% above the November 2009 billings level of $744.2 million.

"Following a historic growth period and 18 months of sequential growth, and in accordance with seasonal trends, sales of semiconductor equipment eased in November," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "This tracks the bookings trend, which peaked in July." Q3 numbers had started to show signs of the peak cracking, according to many analysts, and reflected in the table above.

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 U.S. dollars. 

The data contained in this release were compiled by David Powell, Inc., an independent financial services firm, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and David Powell, Inc. assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data.

The data are contained in a monthly Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. The report tracks billings and bookings worldwide of North American-headquartered manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not billings and bookings of the chips themselves. The Book-to-Bill report is one of three reports included with the Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS).

SEMI is the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chains for the microelectronic, display and photovoltaic industries. For more information, visit www.semi.org

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