North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts September 1998 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.57
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 1998--The North
American semiconductor equipment industry posted a book-to-bill ratio
of 0.57 for September 1998, it was reported by Semiconductor Equipment
and Materials International (SEMI).
A book-to-bill of 0.57 means $57 in orders were received for each
$100 worth of products shipped.
Three-month average shipments in September 1998 were $839.4
billion. The figure is 16 percent below the August 1998 level, and is
42 percent below the September 1997. Three-month average bookings
decreased in September 1998 to $476.4 million. The bookings figure is
16 percent below the August 1998 level, and 69 percent below the
September 1997 level.
"Total equipment orders of U.S. based suppliers continued to
soften in September as expected. Naturally shipments are on the same
slope. The ratio of bookings to orders, which has declined the three
prior months, stabilized in September," said Dick Greene, principal
analyst with SEMI.
"A hint of good news is hidden in the back-end equipment data.
Three month average order levels for back end equipment edged up four
percent. Another uptick in October may be a leading indicator."
The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average
bookings to three-month moving average shipments. Shipments and
bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.
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*T
Month Shipments Bookings Book-to-Bill
April 98 1,416.3 1,102.1 0.78
May 98 1,360.8 1,107.1 0.81
June 98 1,265.5 932.7 0.74
July 98
(final) 1,112.1 717.6 0.65
August 98
(revised) 995.1 568.0 0.57
Sept. 98
(preliminary) 839.4 476.4 0.57
*T
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The data contained in this release was compiled by the
independent public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen LLP, without
audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and
Arthur Andersen LLP can assume no responsibility for the accuracy of
the underlying data.
The data are contained in a monthly Express Report published by
SEMI that tracks shipments and orders for equipment used to
manufacture semiconductor devices, not shipments and orders of the
chips themselves |
