arthur Guest
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:11 pm Post subject: Semi Nov Book-to-Bill Ratio |
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RPT-Chip equipment orders rise for second month - SEMI
Thu Dec 16, 2004 06:06 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - North American makers of chip manufacturing equipment saw orders decline 2 percent in November from October, the fourth month of the last five in which bookings have fallen, a trade group said on Thursday.
Orders for the month of November dipped to $1.35 billion from a revised $1.37 billion in October, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International said in a statement. October orders were slightly lower than reported last month.
Nonetheless, the ratio of orders to shipments, known as the book-to-bill ratio, rose to 1.00 from 0.96 in October, meaning that for every $100 of equipment ordered, $100 dollar of product was billed during the most recent month.
Sales during the fourth quarter are expected to decline, according to forecasts from market research firm Gartner, which earlier released a lowered estimate that predicts a 14 percent drop during the current quarter.
Following are details on North American chip equipment bookings, billings and the book-to-bill ratio. Figures for bookings and billings are three-month average figures, and are shown in millions of U.S. dollars.
Book-to-Bill
Three-month avgs:
June 2004 1,503.4 1,609.1 1.07
July 2004 1,526.9 1,587.4 1.04
August 2004 1,497.8 1,510.8 1.01
September 2004 1,441.2 1,349.8 0.94
October 2004 (final) 1,430.6 1,373.1 0.96
November 2004 (prelim.) 1,342.7 1,345.1 1.00 |
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