IC, chip-equipment book-to-bills rose in September
Silicon Strategies
10/18/2003, 11:00 AM ET
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The IC industry appears to be improving, as both the worldwide semiconductor and chip-equipment book-to-bill ratios rose in September over August, according to VLSI Research Inc.
The semiconductor equipment book-to-bill ratio reached 1.02 in September 2003, up from the revised 0.94 figure in August, according to VLSI Research. Worldwide bookings amounted to $3.473 billion in September, while billings were at $3.392 billion, according to the Santa Clara-based research firm.
Of the billings, $1.812 billion were for wafer processing equipment, $863 million for test and related equipment, $256 million for assembly, and $461 million for service and spares, the report said.
"The big picture shows (the market) is holding flat. September's bookings were at the same level of March 2003 and August's bookings were below that of May, indicating that the order momentum is gone," according to the report.
In contrast to equipment, IC orders show a completely different picture, as the semiconductor book-to-bill hit 1.11 in September, up from 1.08 in August, according to VLSI Research.
Orders have risen steadily all year. In September, the three-month worldwide bookings average hit $13.6 billion. "This figure is the highest so far in 2003 and is 43 percent higher than the three-month bookings average for September 2002. The three-month rolling average of IC billings amounted to $12.2 billion," the report said. IC billings represent the average of WSTS sales data for July, August, and VLSI Research's estimate for September.
The overall front-end capacity utilization rate broke the 90 percent mark in September and was close to the 95 percent level for 130-nm and below, according to VLSI Research. |
