SEPTEMBER 30--The North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.12 billion in orders in August and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.14, according to the latest Express Report by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI;www.semi.org). The three-month average of worldwide bookings in August was $1.12 billion. The bookings figure is 5% below the revised July level of $1.18 billion yet 57% above the $715 million in orders posted in August of last year.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in August 2002 was $981 million. The billings figure is 2% above the revised July 2002 level of $969 million and 14% below the August 2001 billings level of $1.14 billion.
"The decline in orders was anticipated considering recent announcements from chip and capital equipment manufacturers about the poor visibility for the semiconductor industry in the second half of this year," said Dan Tracy, director of industry research and statistics for SEMI. "While bookings are considerably higher than one year ago, the overall order trend is not providing any signal of substantial further improvement this year."
