The book-to-bill ratio for US manufacturers of semiconductor equipment hit 0.81 according to SEMI, the sector's trade body. So $81 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. It shows the sector in steep decline.
The April bookings figure of $1.07bn is about eight percent less than the March 2008 level of $1.17 billion, and almost 32 per cent less than the $1.57bn in April 2007.
"Relatively flat bookings and billings for North American semiconductor equipment reflect the continued conservative mood of the industry," said Stan Myers, 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."
SEMI has been expecting a 'huge slowdown' in capital expenditure in the semiconductor industry this year. Capex is expected to fall by 16 per cent but may fall by more than 20 per cent.
Silicon foundries are expected to slow their spending in 2008 by about 10 per cent, memory manufacturers by more than 15 per cent, and logic/MPU companies by more than 30 per cent.
"Much new construction and capital investment for equipping fabs are being pushed out to the end of 2008 or into 2009", says SEMI.
The reason for cutting back on capex is the huge fall in IC prices which is encouraging companies to postpone capex spending.
However, 2009 could be a strong year, if projects postponed in 2008 are re-instated, and if the projects already planned for 2009 go ahead as planned.
Fortunately for many suppliers of chip manufacturing equipment, they have found a rapidly growing alternative market in equipment to build solar panels, flat panel displays and energy efficient glass.
See also: Mannerisms, the blog of David Manners. Updated twice daily, it's the distinctive, entertaining, authoritative and never dull commentary on the semiconductor industry, from someone who knows. Sign up for the Mannerisms eNewsletter.