North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.32 billion in orders worldwide in January 2016 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.08, according to the January EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.08 means that $108 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide bookings in January 2016 was $1.32 billion. The bookings figure is 1.4 percent lower than the final December 2015 level of $1.34 billion, and is 0.1 percent lower than the January 2015 order level of $1.33 billion.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in January 2016 was $1.23 billion. The billings figure is 8.8 percent lower than the final December 2015 level of $1.35 billion, and is 3.7 percent lower than the January 2015 billings level of $1.28 billion.
“Recent semiconductor order activity is on par with the figures reported one year ago,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “While uncertainty clouds the near-term economic outlook, we currently expect 2016 capex to remain in range of 2015 spending.”
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.
| Billings (3-mo. avg) |
Bookings (3-mo. avg) |
Book-to-Bill | |
| August 2015 | $1,575.9 | $1,670.1 | 1.06 |
| September 2015 | $1,495.0 | $1,554.9 | 1.04 |
| October 2015 | $1,358.6 | $1,325.6 | 0.98 |
| November 2015 | $1,288.3 | $1,236.6 | 0.96 |
| December 2015 (final) | $1,349.9 | $1,343.5 | 1.00 |
| January 2016 (prelim) | $1,231.4 | $1,324.1 | 1.08 |
Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), February 2016