North American semiconductor equipment industry posts Dec. 2011 book-to-bill ratio of 0.88

SAN JOSE, USA: North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.16 billion in orders in December 2011 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.88, according to the December Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.88 means that $88 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in December 2011 was $1.16 billion. The bookings figure is 18.5 percent more than the final November 2011 level of $977.2 million, and is 26.7 percent below the $1.58 billion in orders posted in December 2010.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in December 2011 was $1.32 billion. The billings figure is 11.8 percent more than the final November 2011 level of $1.18 billion, and is 25.2 percent less than the December 2010 billings level of $1.76 billion.

“The December data reflects a further increase in bookings for semiconductor equipment,” said Dan Tracy, senior director of Industry Research and Statistics at SEMI. “Recent capital spending announcements by leading device manufacturers indicate the potential for continued improvement in 2012.”

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.