Press Room - Press Release-Book-to-Bill
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.
Month
Shipments
Bookings
Book-to-Bill
September 98
845.7
481.3
0.57
October 98
852.3
638.0
0.75
November 98
931.6
767.2
0.84
December 98 (final)
920.9
883.4
0.96
January 98 (revised)
865.0
964.7
1.12
February 99 (prelim.)
820.0
962.7
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.
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