North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts September 2012 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.81

North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts September 2012 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.81

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $952.9 million in orders worldwide in September 2012 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.81, according to the September Book-to-Bill Report published today 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 September 2012 was $952.9 million. The bookings figure is 15.1 percent lower than the revised August 2012 level of $1.12 billion, and is 2.8 percent higher than the September 2011 order level of $926.5 million.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in September 2012 was $1.18 billion. The billings figure is 12.0 percent lower than the revised August 2012 level of $1.34 billion, and is 10.4 percent less than the August 2011 billings level of $1.31 billion.

"The decline in bookings and billings for semiconductor equipment to levels last reported in the Fall of 2011 further confirms the second-half investment slowdown," said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. "In the current cycle, device makers are grappling with lower average selling prices and uncertainty with the broader economy, which clearly has a near-term impact on equipment purchases."

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 U.S. dollars.