North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.38 billion in orders worldwide in December 2013 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.02, according to the December EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.   A book-to-bill of 1.02 means that $102 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in December 2013 was $1.38 billion. The bookings figure is 11.1 percent higher than the final November 2013 level of $1.24 billion, and is 48.3 percent higher than the December 2012 order level of $927.4 million.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in December 2013 was $1.35 billion. The billings figure is 20.8 percent higher than the final November 2013 level of $1.11 billion, and is 33.8 percent higher than the December 2012 billings level of $1.0 billion.

“Through the final quarter of 2013, both bookings and billings continually improved,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  “The December three-month average bookings were at the highest level since June 2012 — a positive sign for the 2014 spending outlook.”

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, January 2014; Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS)