North American semiconductor equipment industry posts March 2011 book-to-bill ratio of 0.95

SAN JOSE, USA: North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.70 billion in orders in March 2011 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.95, according to the March Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.95 means that $95 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in March 2011 was $1.62 billion. The bookings figure is 1.5 percent more than the final February 2011 level of $1.60 billion, and is 21.6 percent above the $1.33 billion in orders posted in March 2010.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in March 2011 was $1.70 billion. The billings figure is 7.6 percent less than the final February 2011 level of $1.84 billion, and is 54.4 percent more than the March 2010 billings level of $1.10 billion.

“The book-to-bill ratio improved in March based on slightly higher orders and lower billings,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “Orders are over 20 percent higher than one year ago and we see industry investments remaining steady.”

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.