Jan. 18, 2007 – December results for semiconductor equipment demand show a nice close to what was otherwise a lousy 2007, according to the latest data from SEMI.
Bookings rose 8.6% in December to $1.23B, the first M-M increase since May and best bookings level since September. The Y-Y growth is still 18% lower than Dec. 2006 (and seven straight months of double-digit Y-Y declines), but is slightly better than recent M-M declines of 20% or more since mid-summer. Billings also showed improvement, down just -0.5% M-M to $1.38B, its best showing since August.
Perhaps the best news is in the book-to-bill ratio (B:B), which for months had been languishing around the 0.80 mark. It’s still well below the 1.0 parity mark (11 months and counting), but rose to 0.89 in December, indicating that $89 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed.
Tallying up preliminary full-year SEMI data, it looks like 2007 ended with about a 3.2% gain in chip tool sales from North American suppliers to $18.50B, though orders dropped -9.6% to $16.63B.
In a statement, SEMI president Stanley Myers suggested “a modest 2% growth” in 2007 billings. He also said the lower bookings reflect a “general expectation” of a -10% dropoff in capital expenditures in 2008.
North American equipment bookings, billings — Dec. 2006-Dec. 2007
Month…….Billings…….%M-M………%Y-Y……….Bookings……..%M-M……..% Y-Y………B:B
……………..(US $M)…………………………………………….(US $M)…………………………………..
………………(3-mo. avg.)………………………………….(3-mo.avg.)……………………………………..
Dec’06…………..1482.3……-0.2%……..21.1%……….1497.2……..5.0%…….31.0%……..1.01
Jan’07…………..1448.0……-2.3%……..15.0%……….1445.8…….-3.4%…….17.9%……..1.00
Feb’07………….1423.0……-1.3%……..11.3%……….1398.1……..-3.1%……..8.3%……..0.98
Mar’07………….1436.4……..0.9%……….7.3%………..1419.6……..1.5%…….2.5%……..0.99
Apr’07………….1594.7……..11.0%……..10.1%………1567.5……..10.4%…..-2.1%……..0.98
May’07………….1670.2……..4.7%………15.0%………1641.9………4.7%…….1.4%……..0.98
June’07…………1768.1……..5.9%……….13.5%……..1607.6……..-2.1%……-9.8%……..0.91
July’07………….1685.8…….-4.7%……..2.9%………..1406.3……..-12.5%…..-18.9%……..0.83
Aug’07…………1682.3……-0.2%……..-3.5%………..1371.2………-2.5%……-20.7%……..0.82
Sept’07………..1557.4…….-7.4%……..-6.9%………..1235.0……..-9.9%……-24.7%……..0.79
Oct’07 ………….1477.5……-5.1%……..-5.5%………..1176.9………-4.7%……-19.9%……..0.80
Nov’07 (f)……..1383.2…….-6.4%………-6.9%……….1130.7…….-3.9%……-20.7%……..0.82
Dec’07 (p)……1376.9……-0.5%………-7.1%……….1227.8………8.6%…….-18.0%……0.89
FY06 (p)…….18503.5…….N/A………..-7.1%……….16628.4…….N/A………-9.6%……..0.90