SAN JOSE  -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.09 billion in orders in September on a three-month, down 1% from August and 19% from last year. The book-to-bill ratio was 1.02, the SEMI trade group said.

A book-to-bill of 1.02 means that $102 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in September was $1.07 billion, up 1% from revised August numbers and down 26% from a year ago.

The book-to-bill ratio is above parity for the second month sequentially, with bookings and billings remaining essentially unchanged from the prior three-month average period," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "Chipmakers are currently maintaining conservative spending patterns although we see indications of improving capacity utilization levels."

Backend bookings were flat month to month but up 64% from the previous quarter. The backend B2B was 1.47, down from 1.62 in August, reported SG Cowen Research.