North American semicon equipment industry posts Nov. '09 book-to-bill ratio of 1.06

SAN JOSE, USA: North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $790.5 million in orders in November 2009 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.06, according to the November 2009 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.06 means that $106 worth of orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in November 2009 was $790.5 million. The bookings figure is up 4.5 percent from the final October 2009 level of $756.3 million, and nearly 1 percent higher than the $783.8 million in orders posted in November 2008.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in November 2009 was $743.7 million. The billings figure is 7.1 percent greater than the final October 2009 level of $694.1 million, and nearly 8 percent less than the November 2008 billings level of $806.8 million.

“After a slight flattening of bookings in October 2009, both bookings and billings growth remained relatively slow but steady into November," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “This trend reinforces our view of an improving spending forecast as the industry heads into 2010.”

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, USA