SEMI's July book-to-bill hits 1.26 in weak market
By Semiconductor Business News
URL: siliconstrategies.com
SAN JOSE -- North American-based manufacturers of chip equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.16 for the month of July, down from 1.26 in June, according to the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade association here today.
A book-to-bill of 1.16 means that $116 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month, according to SEMI of San Jose. The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average billings for the North American semiconductor equipment industry.
SEMI's figures are markedly different than the book-to-bill from VLSI Research Inc. The worldwide book-to-bill ratio for semiconductor equipment fell to its lowest level in six months, from a healthy 1.15 in June, to a mere 0.77 for July, according to new figures from VLSI Research of San Jose (see Aug. 19 story ).
SEMI, which tracks North American-based suppliers only, shows a completely different picture. The three-month average of worldwide bookings in July 2002 was $1.15 billion, according to SEMI. The bookings figure is 2% below the revised June 2002 level of $1.17 billion, but 50% above the $769 million in orders posted in July 2001, it said.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in July 2002 was $995 million. The billings figure is 7% above the revised June 2002 level of $927 million, but 17% below the July 2001 billings level of $1.19 billion.
"The July bookings data likely reflects renewed questions about the robustness of the economic recovery and the prospects for the consumption of electronic goods," said Dan Tracy, director of industry research and statistics for SEMI, in a statement.
"The data is consistent with recent announcements of reduced capital spending plans by some global chipmakers and supports the consensus of industry analysts projecting market recovery in 2003," he said. |
