3D NAND, advanced logic drive fab tool order surge

The North American vendors of semiconductor manufacturing equipment are optimistic. Getting a boost by investments in 3D NAND and advanced logic capacity, the vendors posted a higher book-to-bill ratio on a three month average basis in March, according to preliminary figures from the SEMI trade group.

North American fab tool vendors reported billings of $1.38 billion in March, an increase of 9.4% compared to February and a decrease of about 1% compared with March 2015, SEMI (San Jose, Calif.) said.

The three month rolling average for billings totalled $1.2 billion for March, down slightly from February and down 5.3% from March 2015, SEMI said.

The book-to-bill ratio for North American semiconductor equipment vendors rose to 1.15 in March, up from 1.05 in February and up from 1.10 in March 2015, according to SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.15 means that $115 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

Figure 1: Three-month average of billings, bookings from Oct. 2015 – March 2016. (Source: SEMI)

March marked the fourth straight month that the book-to-bill ratio for North American based manufacturers of fab tool equipment remained above parity after two months below parity late last year.

"Order activity remains steady and is on par with both the previous quarter and one year ago," said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI, in a statement. McGuirk added that 3D NAND and advanced logic are the key drivers for investments.

Japanese based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.11 for March, down from 1.41 in February and 1.35 in January, according to the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

- Dylan McGrath,
EE Times