North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.12 billion in orders worldwide in October 2013 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.05, according to the October EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.   A book-to-bill of 1.05 means that $105 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in October 2013 was $1.12 billion. The bookings figure is 13.3 percent higher than the final September 2013 level of $992.8 million, and is 51.4 percent higher than the October 2012 order level of $742.8 million.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in October 2013 was $1.07 billion. The billings figure is 4.9 percent higher than the final September 2013 level of $1.02 billion, and is 8.7 percent higher than the October 2012 billings level of $985.5 million.

“Both equipment orders and billings improved in the October data, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio returning above parity,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  “Order activity is well above the figures reported one year ago and point towards on-going investments in advanced process technologies for NAND Flash, microprocessor, and foundry.”

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, November 2013