MARCH 26--The North American book-to-bill ratio increased in February to 0.87, up from January's final 0.81, according to the latest report by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI; www.semi.org). The three-month average of worldwide bookings in February totaled $712 million--10% above January's revised $645 million and 56% below the $1.61 billion in orders posted in February of last year. The three-month average of worldwide billings in February equaled $822 million. That is 3% above January's revised $800 million, but 64% below February 2001's $2.28 billion.
"Although the prevailing consensus is that 2002 will be a challenging year, the picture has brightened with recent announcements by some chipmakers of possible upward revision in capital spending and the incremental acceleration of bookings over the last three months," said Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI.
