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SAN JOSE - North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $720 million in orders in June 2003 and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93, according to the June 2003 Express Report published recently by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

A book-to-bill of 0.93 means that $93 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in June 2003 was $720 million. The bookings figure is just below the revised May 2003 level of $724 million and 39% below the $1.17 billion in orders posted in June, 2002.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in June, 2003 was $771 million. The billings figure is 4% below the revised May, 2003 level of $805 million and 17% below the June, 2002 billings level of $927 million.

"Billings by North American-based semiconductor capital equipment suppliers slid to the lowest point since January 2002 as the bookings level stabilized," said Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI.

"Higher chip production capacity levels and the higher average chip pricing has lent further credence to the sentiment that the equipment market will begin recovery in the second half of the year," he added.

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average billings for the North American semiconductor equipment industry. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of US dollars.

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