North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $253 million in orders in April 2009 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.65 according to the April 2009 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.65 means that $65 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in April 2009 was $253 million. The bookings figure is three percent greater than the final March 2009 level of $245.6 million, and about 77 percent less than the $1.09 billion in orders posted in April 2008.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in April 2009 was $389.9 million. The billings figure is 11 percent less than the final March 2009 level of $438.3 million, and about 71 percent less than the April 2008 billings level of $1.34 billion.

"Capital investment by chip makers remains limited and bookings for semiconductor manufacturing equipment from North America-based companies have been essentially flat at extraordinarily low levels for the past quarter" said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI.

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.

The data contained in this release were compiled by David Powell, Inc., an independent financial services firm, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and David Powell, Inc. assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data.

The data are contained in a monthly Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. The report tracks billings and bookings worldwide of North American-headquartered manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not billings and bookings of the chips themselves. The Book-to-Bill report is one of three reports included with the Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS).