SEMI, the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chain for the micro- and nano-electronics industries, today reported that for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, worldwide photovoltaic manufacturing equipment book-to-bill ratio remained below parity, at 0.61, for the eleventh consecutive quarter. Bookings levels improved some in the quarter to reach the highest value since the first quarter of 2012.

Worldwide bookings, which represent net new orders for PV manufacturing equipment, improved 112 percent in Q4’13 compared to the previous quarter and were up 6 percent year-over-year. Worldwide billings improved 112 percent in Q4’13 versus Q3’13, but declined 14 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Total billings for the full year 2013 dropped to $1.22 billion, or a 49 percent decline from 2012 billings of $2.40 billion. Annual bookings in 2013 totaled just $736 million, which is 17 percent below 2012 bookings of $883 million.

On the regional basis, equipment sales were dominated by Asia. For the full year of 2013, Asia represented about 78 percent of total billings.

The worldwide PV equipment billings and bookings data is gathered jointly with the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) from about 50 global equipment companies that provide data on a quarterly basis.

For more information on equipment coverage, reporting categories, data collection methodology, sample report, and how to subscribe, please visit www.semi.org/en/node/38716