**According to VLSI**
Chip, IC-equipment book-to-bill figures rose in January
By Mark LaPedus
Silicon Strategies
02/17/2004, 7:40 PM ET
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--The IC recovery continues to pick up steam, as the worldwide semiconductor and chip-equipment book-to-bill ratios rose in January of 2004.
The semiconductor equipment book-to-bill hit 1.19 in January, up from 1.16 in December of 2003, according to VLSI Research Inc. today (February 18, 2004).
Worldwide bookings amounted to $3.491 billion in January, while billings were at $2.933 billion for the month, according to the Santa Clara-based market research firm. Of the billings, $1,626 billion were for wafer processing equipment, $711 million for test and related equipment, $214 million for assembly, and $382 million for service and spares.
"January proved to be surprisingly strong for equipment sales despite typically being a seasonally weak month," according to VLSI Research. "Bookings and billings were 46 percent and 32 percent above their January 2003 levels, respectively."
For February, the chip equipment book-to-bill is projected to cool and drop to 1.17, according to VLSI Research.
Meanwhile, for ICs, the B:B ratio was 1.29 in January, up from 1.26 in December (see January 20 story). The three-month worldwide bookings average hit $17.08 billion, while billings amounted to $13.29 billion for the month.
Capacity utilization hit 89.7 percent in January. IC billings represent the average of WSTS sales data for November, December and VLSI Research's estimate for January. |
