SAN JOSE -- January bookings of semiconductor gear from North America-based manufacturers reached the highest point in 15 months, SEMI said

The three-month average basis of orders for semiconductor equipment was $1.26 billion in January, up 10% from December and 27% year-over-year.
The book-to-bill ratio was 0.97, meaning that $97 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide billings was $1.29 billion, up 5% from December and 3% over January 2005

"January bookings are at the highest level since November of 2004," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "These year-end numbers reinforce the optimism in the capital equipment industry, and indicate continued momentum and steady growth for the year ahead."

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of 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.