SAN JOSE -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.02 billion in orders in March, down 26% year-on-year, according to the latest poll by SEMI.

The 90-day book-to-bill was 0.81, meaning that $81 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

"The overall picture for North America-based manufacturers of new semiconductor equipment remains essentially unchanged," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, in a press statement.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in March was $1.02 billion, down a tick from February and 26% below March 2004.

The three-month average of worldwide billings was $1.27 billion, down 5% from revised February levels and flat with March 2004.

The ratio measures 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.