Despite high fab capacity utilisation rates, there is no great rush to order new semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
SEMI, the trade body for the manufacturers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, reports that its US-based membership recorded an October book-to-bill ratio of 1:10 meaning that $110 worth of orders were booked for every $100 worth of billings.
If the bookings are more than the billings, it shows the industry is on a rising trend.
October orders were slightly below September's, with US-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $756.2m worth of orders in October 2009, down on the September figure of $758.9m and 9.9% less than the $839.7m in orders posted in October 2008.
"The SEMI book-to-bill number has been above 1.0 for four months now, reflecting small and generally steady increases as the semiconductor industry continues a slow recovery," says Stan Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, "bookings in October 2009 have flattened, and we will continue to watch this number. SEMI maintains our forecast of a slowly improving capital spending outlook for the remainder of 2009 and into next year."
Billings have risen all year from $292 in May; $440b in June; $538m in July; $580m in August; $648m in September; and $690m in October.
Bookings rose from May to September before slipping back slightly. May bookings were $288m; June's were $352m; July's were $572m; August's were $615m; September's were $759m and October's were $756m.
The book-to-bill rose from May's 0.73 to 0.80 in June, 1.06 in July and August and 1.17 in September before slipping back to 1.10 in October.
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