SAN JOSE, Calif., March 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.30 billion in orders in February 2006 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.01 according to the February 2006 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.01 means that $101 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in January 2006 was $1.30 billion. The bookings figure is almost six percent higher than the final January 2006 level of $1.23 billion and almost 27 percent higher than the $1.02 billion in orders posted in February 2005.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in February 2006 was $1.29 billion. The billings figure is two percent above the final January 2006 level of $1.26 billion and three percent lower than the February 2005 billings level of $1.33 billion.

"Increasing booking and billing levels over the past quarter are indicative of healthy growth, as companies are investing more dollars in technology and capacity," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The Book-to-Bill has hit parity for the first time since August 2004, so we are optimistic about growth in the equipment market for 2006."

    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.

                             Billings            Bookings      Book-to-Bill
                        (Three-month avg.)  (Three-month avg.)
 September 2005              1,088.2              984.1            0.90
 October 2005                1,145.9             1,093.9           0.95
 November 2005               1,179.7             1,093.2           0.93
 December 2005               1,223.6             1,142.7           0.93
 January 2006 (final)        1,259.4             1,225.9           0.97
 February 2006 (prelim.)     1,286.1             1,296.7           1.01

The data contained in this release was compiled by David Powell, Inc., an independent financial services firm, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and David Powell, Inc. assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data.

The data are contained in a monthly Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. The report tracks billings and bookings worldwide of North American- headquartered manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not billings and bookings of the chips themselves.

SEMI is a global industry association serving companies that provide equipment, materials and services used to manufacture semiconductors, displays, nano-scaled structures, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and related technologies. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Brussels, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose (Calif.), Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.semi.org.

Editors Note:

The March 2006 SEMI Book-to-Bill Report is scheduled for publication on April 18, 2006; 3:00 p.m. PDT (subject to change).

Independently from SEMI, The Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) releases its January Book-to-Bill Report on approximately the same date. The SEAJ Book-to-Bill Report tracks billings and bookings worldwide of Japanese-headquartered semiconductor equipment manufacturers. For more information on the SEAJ data, visit www.seaj.or.jp.

CONTACT: Dan Tracy, +1-408-943-7987, or Email Contact, or Scott Smith,
+1-408-943-7957, or Email Contact, both of SEMI

Web site: http://www.semi.org/