The March figure  is 2.6%  higher than February’s  $1.97 billion, and 69.2% higher than the March 2016 billings level of $1.20 billion.

“March billings reached robust levels not seen since March 2001,” says SEMI’s Dan Tracy,  “the equipment industry is clearly benefiting from the latest semiconductor investment cycle.”

The last six months’ billings in billions of US$ are:

October 1,630; November 1,613; December 1,869;  January  1,859;  February 1,974; March 2,026.