SAN JOSE – North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers reported January orders of $1.54 billion, up 30.3% from last year, an industry trade group said.

While the numbers look good versus a year ago, the industry at that time was still coming out of a deep recession. The 90-day average bookings fell 2.9% from the revised December figures, said SEMI.

The book-to-bill ratio was 0.85, meaning that $85 worth of orders were received for every $100 worth of equipment shipped. It was the fourth straight month below 1.0, suggesting slower shipments ahead.

The 90-day average worldwide billings were $1.8 billion, up 2.5% from revised December levels and 88% from January 2010.

“Orders declined slightly although they remain well above January 2010 orders,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI.  “Industry spending remains solid at the start of the year and we are encouraged by the strength in capital expenditure plans announced over the past month.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of US dollars.

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