North American semiconductor equipment industry posts July 2011 book-to-bill ratio of 0.86

SAN JOSE, USA: North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.30 billion in orders in July 2011 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.86, according to the July Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.86 means that $86 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in July 2011 was $1.30 billion. The bookings figure is 15.7 percent less than the final June 2011 level of $1.54 billion, and is 29.3 percent below the $1.84 billion in orders posted in July 2010.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in July 2011 was $1.52 billion. The billings figure is 7.6 percent less than the final June 2011 level of $1.64 billion, and is 1.4 percent more than the July 2010 billings level of $1.50 billion.

“Semiconductor equipment billings remain higher than levels a year ago,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “However, bookings have dropped significantly consistent with the temporary softening of end-market demand signaled by slower PC sales, low foundry utilization, and investment hesitation by memory chip makers.”

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 August 2011.