Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Q3 Semiconductor Equipment Bookings Continue to Disappoint

SAN JOSE — Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment bookings plummeted 12% year-over-year in the third quarter, according to the SEMI trade group. Bookings were down 31% from the second quarter to $6.71 billion.

Billings were down 15% year-over-year and 12% sequentially to $9.06 billion.

Taiwan and South Korea were the major laggards, while most other regions saw sequential growth in the quarter.

SEMI collects the data in concert with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 100 global equipment companies.

The table below shows the quarterly billings data by region in billions of US dollars.

Region	3Q2012	2Q2012	3Q 2011	3Q12/2Q12 (Q-o-Q)	3Q12/3Q11 (Y-o-Y)
Taiwan	2.34	3.25	1.49	-28%	58%
Korea	1.96	2.59	2.27	-24%	-13%
North America	1.96	1.96	2.11	0%	-7%
Japan	0.85	0.77	1.74	10%	-51%
China	0.75	0.63	0.94	19%	-20%
Europe	0.71	0.52	1.02	36%	-31%
ROW	0.49	0.61	1.04	-21%	-53%
Total	9.06	10.34	10.61	-12%	-15%