NA semicon book-to-bill ratio 0.81 in April

SAN JOSE, USA: North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.07 billion in orders in April 2008 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.81 according to the April 2008 Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.81 means that $81 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in April 2008 was $1.07 billion. The bookings figure is about 8 percent less than the final March 2008 level of $1.17 billion, and almost 32 percent less than the $1.57 billion in orders posted in April 2007.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in April 2008 was $1.32 billion. The billings figure is about 2 percent less than the final March 2008 level of $1.34 billion, and about 17 percent less than the April 2007 billings level of $1.59 billion.

“Relatively flat bookings and billings for North American semiconductor equipment reflect the continued conservative mood of the industry,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "A number of fab projects have been put on-hold or delayed until 2009, and the current 2008 equipment data reflect this trend."

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 May 2008