Equipment book-to-bill ratios diverge in U.S., Japan

Equipment book-to-bill ratios diverge in U.S., Japan

SAN FRANCISCO—The three-month rolling average book-to-bill ratio for North America-based semiconductor capital equipment vendors improved for the sixth straight month in March, according to a report by the SEMI fab tool vendor trade group.

The book-to-bill ratio for North America-based chip equipment vendors, on a three-month average basis, was 1.13 in March, up from 1.01 in February, according to SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.13 means that $113 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings for North American chip equipment vendors was $1.32 billion in March, up 11 percent from February and down 6 percent from March 2011, SEMI said. The three-month average of worldwide billings for the same group of vendors was $1.31 billion in March, down 1 percent from February and down 21 percent from March 2011, SEMI said.

"Equipment orders continue to increase and have improved to the highest reported value since July 2011," said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI, in a statement. "The semiconductor equipment market outlook has strengthened since the beginning of the year as reflected in the increasing bookings rate."



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