Semicon equipment industry posts Sept.09 book-to-bill ratio of 1.17

SAN JOSE, USA: North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $732.8 million in orders in September 2009 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.17, according to the September 2009 Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI.

A book-to-bill of 1.17 means that $117 worth of orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in September 2009 was $732.8 million. The bookings figure is 19.3 percent greater than the final August 2009 level of $614.5 million, and 12.8 percent greater than the $649.9 million in orders posted in September 2008.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in September 2009 was $624.6 million. The billings figure is 7.7 percent greater than the final August 2009 level of $580.0 million, and nearly 33 percent less than the August 2008 billings level of $927.3 million.

“Equipment bookings increased considerably throughout the third quarter as the semiconductor industry continued to improve overall," said Dan Tracy, senior director of industry research and statistics at SEMI. “September 2009 is also the first time since May 2007 that year-over-year bookings have risen and is in-line with the gradually improving capital spending outlook for the remainder of this year and into next 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 US dollars.Source: SEMI, September 2009