MAY 20--North American manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $982 million in orders in April 2002 and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.20, according to the newest Express Report from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI; San Jose, CA; www.semi.org). The three-month average of worldwide bookings in April 2002 was $982 million.
The bookings figure is 17% above the revised March 2002 level of $836 million and 36% above the $721 million in orders posted in April 2001. The three-month average of worldwide billings in April 2002 was $822 million. The billings figure is 3% above the revised March 2002 level of $798 million and 5% below the April 2001 billings level of $1.65 billion.
"While the jump in April's numbers likely reflect an end-of-quarter uptick in bookings, the fact that we have seen bookings improve for five consecutive months is a promising sign that the market for semiconductor equipment is beginning to recover from the downturn of 2001," said Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "Recent announcements by leading foundries of increased capital spending plans for 2002 are another sign of a brightening market outlook."
