June book-to-bill ratio shows seven months of bookings growth

JULY 29--North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.16 billion in orders in June 2002 and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.28, according to the June 2002 Express Report published by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI; www.semi.org). A book-to-bill of 1.28 means that $128 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The $1.16 million bookings figure is 5% above the revised May 2002 level of $1.11 billion and 59% above the $731 million in orders posted in June 2001. The three-month average of worldwide billings in June 2002 was $906 million. The billings figure is 4% above the revised May 2002 level of $869.6 million and 33% below the June 2001 billings level of $1.36 billion.

"Amidst mixed signals about capital-spending plans from global chipmakers, the North American-based semiconductor equipment industry has posted several months of incremental billings growth," said Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "While there are concerns about the strength of improvements this year, seven months of sequential bookings growth and our recent industry consensus survey support expectations for a market rebound in 2003 and 2004."