“Relatively flat bookings and billings for North American
semiconductor equipment reflect the continued conservative mood of the
industry,” said Stanley T. Myers, President and CEO of SEMI. "A number
of fab projects have been put on-hold or delayed until 2009, and the
current 2008 equipment data reflect this trend."
The April
book-to-bill ratio is the second lowest in over three years. However,
the first-half-year sales have become the strongest in recent years due
to memory manufacturers' heavy spending plans in that period, in
anticipation of year-end demand cycles.
With DRAM
manufacturers drastically cutting capital spending in 2008 and slower
investments in NAND flash, the book-to-bill ratio is expected to
continue its downward path in coming months. The final March 2008
book-to-bill ratio was characteristically lowered from 0.89 to 0.87,
SEMI reported.
The three-month average of worldwide bookings in
April 2008 was $1.07 billion. The bookings figure is about eight
percent less than the final March 2008 level of $1.17 billion, and
almost 32 percent less than the $1.57 billion in orders posted in April
2007.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in April
2008 was $1.32 billion. The billings figure is about two percent less
than the final March 2008 level of $1.34 billion, and about 17 percent
less than the April 2007 billings level of $1.59 billion.