SEMI report shows PV equipment booking on the rise
SEMI has reported the worldwide PV manufacturing equipment billings and bookings for the first quarter of 2014. Worldwide billings declined to $240 million in Q1 2014, a decrease of 42 percent from the prior quarter though just 6 percent below the same quarter a year ago. Worldwide bookings for the first quarter grew to $296 million, 18 percent above Q4 2013 and 44 percent higher than Q1 2013. At 1.24, the book-to-bill ratio broke above parity for the first time since 1Q 2011 with bookings at the highest quarterly value since Q1 2012.
On the regional basis, equipment sales were dominated by Asia. For the first quarter, Asia represented over 70 percent of total billings and over 80 percent of the total bookings.
The worldwide PV equipment billings and bookings data is gathered jointly by SEMI and the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) from about 40 global equipment companies that provide data on a quarterly basis.
