SAN JOSE – North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a 90-day moving average of $1.13 billion in orders in January as the chip equipment recovery continued unabated.

The book-to-bill ratio was 1.20, up 130 basis points from December's revised figures, said the trade group SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.20 means that $120 worth of orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month. It was the seventh month in a row the ratio topped 1.0, the benchmark for future growth, and it was the highest mark in more than four years.

December's ratio was revised upward from an initial reading of 1.03.

The 90-day average of worldwide bookings was up 24.1% from the final December 2009 level of $912.7 million, and more than three times higher than the $277.2 million in orders posted in January 2009.

The three-month average of worldwide billings was $946.3 million, up 11.3% from December and 62% from January 2009.

"Semiconductor capital equipment bookings are at the highest level since April 2008," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The Book-to-Bill ratio of 1.20 reflects the robust capex spending plans announced by semiconductor device manufacturers over the past several months.”

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.

Source: SEMI February 2010