Japan's book-to-bill falls below parity

Amid a lull in the fab-tool market, Japanese-based semiconductor production equipment manufacturers posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.90 for September, down from 1.04 in August, according to the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

The ratio fell below parity for the first time in three months. Japanese equipment makers posted 119.7 billion yen ($1.04 billion) in orders in September 2005 as a three-month average. The bookings figure is 1.8 percent up the final August 2005 level but 6.1 percent down from a year ago.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in September was 132.5 billion yen ($1.15 billion). The billings figure is 17.1 percent up on the final August 2005 level but 9.4 percent down the September 2004 billings level.

As the fab-tool industry appears to have stalled, North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.02 in September, down from 1.05 in August, according to the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade group.

The worldwide semiconductor-equipment book-to-bill ratio hit 1.03 in September, down from 1.07 in August, according to VLSI Research Inc..

- Mark LaPedus

EE Times