September 17, 2004 – North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.52 billion in orders in August (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.00 according to SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.00 means that $100 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in August was $1.52 billion. The bookings figure is 5% below the revised July 2004 level of $1.59 billion and 107% above the $731.8 million in orders posted in August 2003.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in August 2004 was $1.51 billion. The billings figure is 1% below the revised July 2004 level of $1.53 billion and 90% above the August 2003 billings level of $792.3 million.

“Semiconductor equipment bookings and billings for North American-based suppliers have declined slightly from peak levels in the past few months, yet remain at high levels (each above $1.5 billion),” said Lubab L. Sheet, research development director, SEMI. “A number of recent company announcements suggest these levels may continue to soften in the coming months. However, we believe the industry is on track to exceed our overall worldwide forecast projection of $36 billion this year.

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.