SAN JOSE – North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers reported January orders of $1.54 billion, up 30.3% from last year, an industry trade group said.

While the numbers look good versus a year ago, the industry at that time was still coming out of a deep recession. The 90-day average bookings fell 2.9% from the revised December figures, said SEMI.

The book-to-bill ratio was 0.85, meaning that $85 worth of orders were received for every $100 worth of equipment shipped. It was the fourth straight month below 1.0, suggesting slower shipments ahead.

The 90-day average worldwide billings were $1.8 billion, up 2.5% from revised December levels and 88% from January 2010.

“Orders declined slightly although they remain well above January 2010 orders,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI.  “Industry spending remains solid at the start of the year and we are encouraged by the strength in capital expenditure plans announced over the past month.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of US dollars.

Register now for Virtual PCB, the industry's only live, fully interactive, Web-based conference and trade show for PCB engineers, designers, fabricators, assemblers and managers worldwide, March 8-9. www.virtual-pcb.com 

ALAMEDA, CA – A new paper presents findings on three small-to-medium-sized electronics manufacturing services firms and common themes for success.

Through interviews with Digicom Electronics, Nistec Group, and PartnerTech over a 15-year span, the paper shows how management has survived economic fluctuations, parts shortages, demanding customers, and an ever-broadening scope of services, while competing with companies leveraging low-wage regions, huge buying power, and economies of scale.

Technology Forecasters’ “Contract Electronic Manufacturers with Staying Power” is available at http://www.techforecasters.com/whitepapers/wp_tfi_lasting_cms.pdf.

Register now for Virtual PCB, the industry's only live, fully interactive, Web-based conference and trade show for PCB engineers, designers, fabricators, assemblers and managers worldwide, March 8-9. www.virtual-pcb.com

TEKIRDAG, TURKEY – Foxconn has launched production here to produce HP desktop PCs.

MILPITAS, CA – This week’s SEMA meeting here will address the evolving China photovoltaics model and its ramifications for the North American and European industries.

Matthew Holzman, president of SEMA, will present a technical assessment of the Chinese photovoltaic industry Mar. 3 at Flextronics, offering comparative data to help attendees understand the key differentiators in capital cost models, technology, manufacturing efficiency and quality practices.

RSVP to Jasbir Bath at jasbir.bath@solar-ema.org.

For more information about SEMA, visit www.solar-ema.org.

Register now for Virtual PCB, the industry's only live, fully interactive, Web-based conference and trade show for PCB engineers, designers, fabricators, assemblers and managers worldwide, March 8-9. www.virtual-pcb.com