UPDATE 1-North America Nov chip-gear orders fall 35.7 pct

Dec 15 (Reuters) - North America-based chip-gear
makers posted $973.3 million in average worldwide bookings in
November, down 35.7 percent from last year, according to a
book-to-bill report published on Thursday by Semiconductor
Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).
"The industry waits for definitive signs of stability in the
worldwide economy, which will improve end market demand and help
solidify investment plans for 2012," said Denny McGuirk,
president and CEO of SEMI.
Book-to-bill ratio in November was 0.83, which means $83
worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed.
U.S. chip-equipment makers include Applied Materials Inc
, the world's biggest testing tools firm KLA Tencor Corp
, circuitry-etching tools company Lam Research Corp
and Novellus Systems Inc.
The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving
averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North
America-based chip-equipment makers.
The data contained in the report was compiled by David
Powell Inc, an independent financial services firm, without
audit, from data submitted directly by the participants.
Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S.
dollars.
Billings Bookings Book-to-Bill
(3-month avg) (3-month avg)
June 1,640.2 1,540.2 0.94
July 1,521.2 1,298.2 0.85
August 1,457.7 1,162.4 0.80
Sept 1,313.5 926.8 0.71
October 1,258.3 926.8 0.74

November 1,174.4 973.3 0.83