Weak Q108 semicon equipment bookings

SAN JOSE, USA: Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached $10.56 billion in the first quarter of 2008. The billings figure is 7 percent greater than Q4 of 2007 and 2 percent less than the same quarter a year ago.

The data is gathered in co-operation with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from more than 150 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

SEMI also reported worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings of US$8.08 billion in Q1 of 2008. The figure is 23 percent less than the same quarter a year ago, and 11 percent less than the bookings figure for the fourth quarter of 2007.

“While bookings have weakened in the first quarter, overall industry billings remain at levels higher than the end of last year,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “Some regions, specifically North America, Korea, and China, posted strong quarter-over-quarter growth in spite of the conservative capital environment.”

The quarterly billings data by region in millions of US dollars, year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter growth rates by region are as follows: