In fact, the business has grounded to a halt, leaving some to wonder if the book-to-bill ratios could hit zero amid the current downturn.

That's nearly impossible. Or it is? The book-to-bill ratio for Japanese fab tool vendors was 0.55 for January, down from 0.70 in December, according to the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) earlier this week. That figure was said to be a seven-year low.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.48 in January, down from 0.86 in December, according to SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.48 means that $48 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The January book-to-bill ratio is the lowest for the North American semiconductor capital equipment industry since April 2001, when the book-to-bill registered 0.44, according to historical data posted on SEMI's website. According to the data, which goes back to November 1996, January's ratio of 0.48 is the second lowest book-to-bill ever published by SEMI.

''Sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment continue to decline, exacerbated by the diminished demand for consumer electronics, and the global economic turmoil,'' said Stanley Myers, president and CEO of San Jose-based SEMI, in a statement. ''As a result, bookings are at the lowest levels since 1991.''

''This is a bad economy,'' said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied (Santa Clara, Calif.), at an analyst meeting in New York this week. ''I would just say this is the worst downturn in the history of the semiconductor equipment industry.''

All fab tool vendors are struggling, including Advantest, Applied, ASML, Nikon, Novellus, Lam, TEL, Teradyne and others.

For example, Applied's ''long-term growth strategy remains mostly focused on solar sector, which should enable (it) to outperform semi equipment peers,'' said Edwin Mok, an analyst with Needham & Co. LLC, in a report. ''However, with uncertainty on the timing of recovery in silicon and display, and an oversupply in solar that will likely limit new capacity expansions, we believe investors should wait for signs of stabilization before getting aggressive on the name.''

There is some good news at Applied. ''We believe Applied is gaining grounds in inspection against KLA-Tencor,'' Mok said. ''In etch, while Applied highlights 14 wins, we are worried that a slow market will give competitors time to catch up and block any share gain.''

Applied could see some growth in other areas. ''Service could see upside in 2010. Despite the downturn in 2008, Applied grew semi service contracts by 15 percent with offering in fab consulting and integrated solutions,'' he said. ''We believe these comprehensive service products will drive grow as end market stabilize in 2010.''