SAN JOSE – The 90-day moving average orders among North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers was $1.83 billion in July, up 5.9% from revised June figures and 220% higher that last year.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in July was $1.49 billion, up 1.8% percent from revised June levels and 177.6% above July 2009.

The book-to-bill ratio was 1.23, SEMI said. A book-to-bill of 1.23 means that $123 worth of orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

Semiconductor equipment orders are considered a leading indicator for future end-product bookings.

"The July report shows continued momentum in the market for new semiconductor manufacturing equipment," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "While there are some questions about the semiconductor industry sustaining its strong growth trends in the second half of this year, bookings for new equipment continue to increase and are at the highest levels recorded since January 2001.”

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.