Date: 22/11/2008

North American semi equipment industry posts Oct -08 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.93

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $843 million in orders in October 2008 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93 according to the October 2008 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.93 means that $93 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in October 2008 was $843 million. The bookings figure is about 30 percent greater than the final September 2008 level of $650 million, and about 28 percent less than the $1.18 billion in orders posted in October 2007.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in October 2008 was $908 million. The billings figure is two percent less than the final September 2008 level of $927 million, and about 39 percent less than the October 2007 billings level of $1.48 billion.

"While three month average bookings improved in October, overall bookings and billings for North American equipment manufacturers are at levels comparable to 2003," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "Our industry will have to look to the early part of 2009 for clearer signals of market direction."

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. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

For more information, visit www.semi.org.