Fab utilization falls, book-to-bill flat
Mark LaPedus
EE Times
(12/14/2005 7:50 PM EST)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Despite a gradual slowdown in fab utilization, the worldwide IC-equipment book-to-bill ratio remained above parity and hit 1.09 in November, down from the revised figure of 1.19 in October, according to VLSI Research Inc.
Front-end capacity utilization softened to 94.8 percent in November as the industry winds down from the seasonal build-up, according to VLSI Research (Santa Clara, Calif.). In October, front-end utilization hit 96.8 percent, according to the research firm.
But fab utilization is indeed slowing down. For December, the rate is expected to go below the 90-percent level and hit 87.4 percent, according to the firm.
In contrast, test-and-assembly utilization remained at 98 percent in November. Back-end utilization is not expected to fall below the 90-percent level until well into first quarter of 2006.
On the bright side, worldwide revenues were at $4.4 billion, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 1.09 in November. The company expects the book-to-bill ratio to remain above 1.0 in December, with bookings of $4.9 billion and revenues of $4.8 billion.
November’s bookings were slightly lower than October’s, but were 36.5 percent higher than those of November 2004. “The slight dip in the November bookings belies the fact that the equipment industry has been experiencing remarkable order growth since 3Q05,” according to the research firm.
VLSI Research also found that October’s bookings were stronger than originally estimated, which resulted in an upward revision to the data. “Much of the demand is seasonal, but it is important to point out that chip makers are also gearing up for the 65-nm ramp,” according to the firm.
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