North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts February 1999
Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.17
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 18, 1999 -- The North American
semiconductor equipment industry posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.17 for
February 1999, it was reported by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials
International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 1.17 means $117 in orders were
received for each $100 worth of products shipped.
"We appear to be seeing some stabilization after four months of steady
bookings growth, and this is in line with industry forecasts for 1999,"
said Stanley Myers, president of SEMI. "There have been no big surprises
in either the chip or electronics markets to cause a sudden change in
direction for equipment makers. We remain optimistic that a continued
strong economy will lead to a more robust upturn by year's end."
Three-month average shipments in February 1999 were $820 million. The
figure is five percent below the January 1999 level, and is 40 percent
below the February 1998 level of $1.4 billion. Three-month average
bookings were flat in February 1999 at $962 million. The bookings figure
is 22 percent below the February 1998 level of $1.2 billion.
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.
MonthShipmentsBookingsBook-to-BillSeptember 98845.7481.30.57October 98
852.3638.00.75November 98 931.6767.20.84December 98 (final)920.9883.4
0.96January 98 (revised)865.0964.71.12February 99 (prelim.)820.0962.7
1.17
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.
Based in Mountain View, Calif., SEMI is an international trade
association serving more than 2,300 companies participating in the $65
billion semiconductor and flat panel display equipment and materials
markets. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Brussels,
Hsinchu, Moscow, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. Visit SEMI
OnLine at www.semi.org.
ASSOCIATION CONTACT:
Mike Droeger
SEMI
Ph: 650.940.6953
Fx: 650.940.7932
E-mail: mdroeger@semi.orgJonathan Davis
SEMI
Ph: 650.940.6937
Fx: 650.940.7970
E-mail: jdavis@semi.org# # # |
