The Book-to-Bill ratio for North America-based semiconductor equipment suppliers dropped back to 0.89 in March 2008 after a strong boost in February, reaching a final adjusted figure of .092. $1.16 billion in equipment orders was booked in March 2008. 

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in March 2008 was $1.16 billion. The bookings figure is about four percent less than the final February 2008 level of $1.21 billion, and about 18 percent less than the $1.42 billion in orders posted in March 2007.

“Orders reported by North American equipment manufacturers have remained at relatively constant levels over the past six months,” said Dan Tracy, Senior Director of Industry Research and Statistics at SEMI. “This trend is a reflection of the uncertainty in the semiconductor industry, and with current economic conditions."

The step drop in the March book-to-bill ratio from the February figures could also be due to the recent tool order push-outs from two NAND flash 300mm fabs as well as a significant drop in DRAM capacity spending, which was previously expected to occur in the first few months of 2008 but has since been pushed out or cancelled altogether. In 2007, the second quarter book-to-bill ratios remained relatively flat.