Book-to-Bill: North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts January 1999 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.10 - Industry Trend or Event

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Feb 22, 1999

The North American semiconductor equipment industry posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.10 for January 1999, it was reported by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 1.10 means $1.10 in orders were received for each $100 worth of products shipped.

"This is the fourth month of sequentially greater order levels. Continuing improvement in semiconductor equipment booking figures convey further optimism for the equipment industry," said Stanley Myers, president of SEMI. "While we have not seen a rash of announcements for new semiconductor facilities to be built in 1999 and 2000, the January order level indicates that aggressive activity in both fab conversions and backend upgrades for the newest chip designs should continue to improve equipment industry business levels in 1999." Three-month average shipments in January 1999 were $868 million. The figure is three percent below the December 1998 level, and is 41 percent below the January 1998 level. Three-month average bookings increased in January 1999 to $958 million. The bookings figure is 10 percent above the December 1998 level, but is 30 percent below the January 1998 level. The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average shipments. Shipments and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Month                       Shipments   Bookings  Book-to-Bill
August 98                      1011.8     571.6      0.57
September 98                    845.7     481.3      0.57
October 98                      852.3     638.0      0.75
November 98 (final)             931.6     767.2      0.84
December 98 (revised)           895.2     869.2      0.97
January 99 (preliminary)        868.0     957.7      1.10

The data contained in this release was compiled by the independent public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen LLP, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and Arthur Andersen LLP can assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data. The data are contained in a monthly Express Report published by SEMI that tracks shipments and orders for equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not shipments and orders of the chips themselves. Based in Mountain View, SEMI is an international trade association serving more than 2,300 companies participating in the $65 billion semiconductor and flat panel display equipment and materials markets. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Hsinchu, Moscow, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. FMI: www.semi.org.