Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Semi Fab Equipment Orders Up Sequentially

SAN JOSE — Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings plunged 32% year-over-year in the first quarter, SEMI said this week.

Bookings were down 23% over the same period, the trade group noted. SEMI and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan present the data as a 90-day moving average.

Billings rose 8% sequentially $7.31 billion, while orders were up 14%, based on data from over 100 global equipment companies.

The quarterly billings data by region in billions of US dollars, quarter-over-quarter growth and year-over-year rates by region are as follows:

Region	1Q2013	4Q2012	1Q2012	1Q13/4Q12 (Q-o-Q)	1Q13/1Q12 (Y-o-Y)
Taiwan	2.83	2.17	1.77	31%	60%
North America	1.53	1.94	2.28	-21%	-33%
Korea	0.86	0.80	3.32	8%	-74%
Japan	0.71	0.51	1.29	40%	-45%
China	0.55	0.39	0.72	42%	-23%
ROW	0.45	0.48	0.52	-6%	-14%
Europe	0.38	0.50	0.82	-26%	-54%
Total	7.31	6.79	10.73	8%	-32%