Semiconductor equipment manufacturers based in North America posted $1.58bn in orders in February 2011 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.87, according to a report published by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).
According to the February Book-to-Bill Report, a book-to-bill of 0.87 means that $87 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
The bookings figure is 4.7% more than the final January 2011 level of $1.51bn, and is 26.7% above the $1.25bn in orders posted in February 2010.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in February 2011 was $1.83bn, which is 2.3% more than the final January 2011 level of $1.79bn, and is 79.8% more than the February 2010 billings level of $1.02bn.
SEMI senior director of Industry Research & Statistics Dan Tracy said billings increased for the third month in a row, while bookings improved over 4% from the figure reported in January.
"February bookings are over 25% higher than the bookings reported one year ago," Tracy said.
The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers.
The monthly Book-to-Bill Report by SEMI tracks billings and bookings worldwide of North American-headquartered manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not billings and bookings of the chips themselves.
