Demand for chip gear keeps surging

Chip-gear manufacturers reported orders worth $1.1bn (£0.61bn) in December, according to the data released by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) on Thursday. The book-to-bill ratio, which represents a comparison between the average value of new equipment orders received and the average billing for finished products, rose to 1.20 in North America.

The group uses a three-month average to calculate the monthly figures for shipments and orders. A book-to-bill ratio of 1.20 means $120 worth of new orders were posted for every $100 of product billed for the month. The monthly ratio has been climbing steadily since July, when the group reported a book-to-bill comparison figure of 0.90.

The bookings figure for December 2003 is 19 percent above the revised November 2003 level of $923m, and 33 percent higher than the $827m in orders posted same period the previous year. The three-month average of global billings in December 2003 was $918m, rising 5 percent from the revised November 2003 level of $876m.

"The December data support the positive outlook for strong growth in semiconductor capital investment this year," Stanley Myers, chief executive of SEMI, said in a statement. "Analysts presenting at the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium this month were in agreement that 2004 is shaping up to be a double-digit growth year for the global semiconductor equipment industry."