North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.55 billion in orders worldwide in November 2016 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.96, according to the November Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Book-to-Bill Report published today 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.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide bookings in November 2016 was $1.55 billion. The bookings figure is 4.0 percent higher than the final October 2016 level of $1.49 billion, and is 25.1 percent higher than the November 2015 order level of $1.24 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in November 2016 was $1.61 billion. The billings figure is 1.1 percent lower than the final October 2016 level of $1.63 billion, and is 25.2 percent higher than the November 2015 billings level of $1.29 billion.

“As 2016 comes towards a close, equipment spending is stronger than expected at the start of the year,” said Dan Tracy, senior director, SEMI. “Spending has been driven by 3D NAND, leading-edge foundry, and advanced packaging investments, and these segments are key for the expected spending growth in 2017.”

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.

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), December 2016