Does this have any implications for LRCX? Thanks for feedback.
Friday April 17 3:00 PM EDT
N.American Chip-making Machine Book-to-bill Lower
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Reuters) - New orders for machines that make computer chips declined in March, according
to a preliminary report today by the semiconductor equipment manufacturing industry.
The North American semiconductor equipment industry's monthly book-to-bill ratio for March slipped 1 percent to 0.80,
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, an industry association, said in a statement.
The ratio, a key measure of the health of the semiconductor equipment manufacturing industry as well as the chip industry,
means $80 in new orders were received for each $100 worth of products shipped in March.
In March, orders for equipment totaled $1.32 billion, compared to bookings of $1.06 billion.
The March decline still leaves the book-to-bill ratio 27 percent higher than a year earlier, the association said.
"SEMI'a March data indicates the continued downward trend of worldwide equipment orders, with total orders for March
down by essentially the same amount as from January to February," said Dick Greene, principal analyst with SEMI.
In January, orders for chip-making equipment totaled $1.45 billion while bookings were $1.36 billion. In February orders
of $1.34 billion were compared to bookings of $1.21 billion.
The last time the ratio stood at 1.0, was in November 1997, when both shipments and bookings were about $1.63 billion. |
