After a 10-month period of steady growth, the book-to-bill ratio for North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment in July posted a decrease from June's numbers, according to a report by trade group Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

The industry posted $1.75 billion in orders in July and had a book-to-bill ratio of 1.06, meaning $106 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

According to SEMI’s data, the three-month average of worldwide bookings in July was $1.75 billion. The bookings figure is about 2 percent lower than the final June level of $1.78 billion and more than 73 percent higher than the $1.01 billion in orders posted in July 2005.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in July was $1.65 billion, SEMI said, noting that the billings figure is almost 6 percent above the final June level of $1.56 billion and almost 53 percent above the July 2005 billings level of $1.08 billion.

The 1.06 ratio of bookings to billings was down significantly from June's 1.14 ratio.

"Billings for North American equipment manufacturers are at their highest level since April of 2001, while bookings decreased slightly," Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, said in a statement. "Even with a slight bookings slowdown, the worldwide equipment market is still on track to grow about 20 percent in 2006."