North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Rises Above Parity

SEMI: Industry Posts February 2012 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.01

According to SEMI, North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.33 billion in orders in February 2012 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.01, according to the February Book-to-Bill Report published on March 22 by SEMI. That 1.01 book-to-bill ratio mean that $101 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in February 2012 was $1.33 billion. The bookings figure is 12.2 percent more than the final January 2012 level of $1.19 billion, and is 16.5 percent below the $1.60 billion in orders posted in February 2011.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in February 2012 was $1.32 billion. The billings figure is 6.4 percent more than the final January 2012 level of $1.24 billion, and is 28.3 percent less than the February 2011 billings level of $1.84 billion.

“For the first time since September 2010, the book-to-bill ratio is over parity as three-month average bookings continued to increase,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “Investments in advanced process technologies for NAND Flash, microprocessor, and foundry are key spending drivers for the 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. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Source: SEMI March 2012