North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts January 2015 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.03

SAN JOSE, Calif. — February 19, 2015 — North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.31 billion in orders worldwide in January 2015 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.03, according to the January EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.03 means that $103 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in January 2015 was $1.31 billion. The bookings figure is 4.9 percent lower than the final December 2014 level of $1.38 billion, and is 2.6 percent higher than the January 2014 order level of $1.28 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in January 2015 was $1.28 billion. The billings figure is 8.6 percent lower than the final December 2014 level of $1.40 billion, and is 3.5 percent higher than the January 2014 billings level of $1.23 billion.

"2014 was a strong growth year for the semiconductor equipment industry, and both bookings and billings at the start of this year are comparable to the early 2014 figures," said SEMI president and CEO Denny McGuirk. "Given the positive outlook for the semiconductor industry in 2015 and based on current capex announcements, we expect the equipment market to continue to grow this year.”

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.

	Billings (3-mo. avg)	Bookings (3-mo. avg)	Book-to-Bill
August 2014	$1,293.4	$1,346.1	1.04
September 2014	$1,256.5	$1,186.2	0.94
October 2014	$1,184.2	$1,102.3	0.93
November 2014	$1,189.4	$1,216.8	1.02
December 2014 (final)	$1,395.9	$1,381.5	0.99
January 2015 (prelim)	$1,276.3	$1,313.6	1.03

Source: SEMI, February 2015

The data contained in this release were compiled by David Powell, Inc., an independent financial services firm, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and David Powell, Inc. assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data.

The data are contained in a monthly Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. The report tracks billings and bookings worldwide of North American-headquartered manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not billings and bookings of the chips themselves. The Book-to-Bill report is one of three reports included with the SEMI Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS).

SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and micro-electronic manufacturing supply chains. Our 1,900 member companies are the engine of the future, enabling smarter, faster and more economical products that improve our lives. Since 1970, SEMI has been committed to helping members grow more profitably, create new markets and meet common industry challenges. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.semi.org.