North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a flat book-to-bill ratio of 0.97, providing new evidence that the global semiconductor equipment sector is likely to achieve double-digit growth this year, the latest statistics from industry association SEMI showed yesterday.
A book-to-bill ratio of 0.97 means that US$97 worth of orders was received for every US$100 of product billed for the month.
The three-month average for worldwide bookings last month rose 1.1 percent to US$1.62 billion, from US$1.6 billion in April, according to SEMI, while the three-month average for billings increased 2 percent to US$1.67 billion, from US$1.64 billion in the previous month.
“Three-month average bookings improved slightly in May and both bookings and billings are higher than a year ago,” SEMI president and chief executive Stanley Myers wrote in a press release. “As we approach the half-year point, the data substantiates global industry expectations for double-digit growth this year.”
On an annual basis, worldwide bookings grew 6.2 percent last month from US$1.53 billion in the same period last year, while billings climbed 25 percent from US$1.34 billion a year ago, according to SEMI.
In a separate statement, SEMI said global shipments of semiconductor equipment rose 1 percent quarter-on-quarter, or 61 percent year-on-year, to US$12 billion in the first three months of this year.
Taiwanese chip companies spent 15 percent less last quarter compared with the fourth quarter of last year, at US$2.85 billion, but that was a 27 percent improvement on the same period of last year.
In the first quarter of the year Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s No. 1 contract chipmaker, spent US$2.77 billion on new equipment, up 83 percent from US$1.52 billion a quarter ago.
Hsinchu-based TSMC, budgeted a record US$7.8 billion to expand capacity by 19 percent to 13.48 million 8-inch equivalent wafers this year from 11.33 million 8-inch equivalent wafers last years.
Taiwan ranked No. 2 in semiconductor equipment spending, slightly behind North America, which bought US$2.86 billion in equipment last quarter, according to SEMI.
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