NORTH AMERICAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY POSTS MARCH 2000 BOOK-TO-BILL RATIO
OF 1.45
Semiconductor Equipment Bookings Up 95 Percent Year-Over-Year
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 20, 2000 -- The North American-based manufacturers of
semiconductor equipment posted a fifth-straight month of record orders in March 2000 and a
Book-to-Bill ratio of 1.45, it was reported by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials
International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 1.45 means $145 in orders were received for each $100
worth of products shipped.
The three-month average of worldwide shipments in March 2000 was $1.7 billion. The figure is
six percent above the February 2000 level, and is 79 percent above the March 1999 shipments
level of $944 million. The three-month average of bookings in March 2000 was $2.45 billion. The
bookings figure is seven percent above February 2000 and 95 percent above the $1.3 billion
posted in March 1999. March bookings came in 50 percent above the previous cycle peak of
$1.63 billion booked in November 1997.
"Semiconductor equipment bookings continue to accelerate across all sectors," said Stanley T.
Myers, president of SEMI. "Related worldwide equipment statistics information from the
February 2000 SEMI-SEAJ report shows all world regions are participating in this development,
with Taiwan, Europe and the ROW (rest of world) regions posting the most aggressive growth in
orders."
The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month
moving average shipments for the North American semiconductor equipment industry.
Shipments and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.
Month
Shipments
Bookings
Book-to-Bill
October 99
1,484.3
1,609.5
1.08
November 99
1,528.5
1,694.5
1.11
December 99
1,597.9
1,907.6
1.19
January 2000 (final)
1,603.5
2,227.3
1.39
February 2000 (revised)
1,595.1
2,293.8
1.44
March 2000 (prelim.)
1,685.3
2,451.7
1.45
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 worldwide of North American-based manufacturers of equipment used to
manufacture semiconductor devices, not shipments and orders of the chips themselves. The
April 2000 Express Report is scheduled for publication on May 22, 2000 (subject to change).
Based in Mountain View, Calif., 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. For more information about SEMI,
including the SEMIndex, a global stock index of 65 publicly traded equipment and materials
companies, visit www.semi.org. |
