Semicon equipment: April 2009 book-to-bill ratio 0.65 -- 3pc rise!

SAN JOSE, USA: North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $253 million in orders in April 2009 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.65 according to the April 2009 Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.65 means that $65 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in April 2009 was $253 million. The bookings figure is 3 percent greater than the final March 2009 level of $245.6 million, and about 77 percent less than the $1.09 billion in orders posted in April 2008.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in April 2009 was $389.9 million. The billings figure is 11 percent less than the final March 2009 level of $438.3 million, and about 71 percent less than the April 2008 billings level of $1.34 billion.Source: SEMI, USA.

"Capital investment by chip makers remains limited and bookings for semiconductor manufacturing equipment from North America-based companies have been essentially flat at extraordinarily low levels for the past quarter," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI.

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 US dollars.