SAN JOSE – North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers reported 90-day average orders of $1.23 billion in orders in February, up 4.5% sequentially.

The book-to-bill ratio was 1.22, meaning that $122 worth of orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The 90-day average worldwide bookings rose 376.7% from February 2009, when the industry was suffering through its worst-ever slump.

Over the same period, billings rose 5.7% from the revised January numbers to $1.01 billion. Shipments were up 92.5% from February 2009.

"The book-to-bill ratio has been above parity for eight months in a row, and three-month average order figures are in the range last reported in late 2007,” said SEMI senior director Dan P. Tracy. "Year-over-year comparisons are dramatic in comparison to the very low figures reported in the first quarter of 2009.”

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.