The worldwide IC-equipment book-to-bill ratio was 0.81 in September, down from 0.94 in August, according to VLSI Research. At the same time, front-end capacity utilization fell below 90% in September. Front-end utilization dropped 2.5% from August to September, but the figure was still at 88.5%. Bookings amounted to $3.94 bln in September, while billings were $4.85 bln. Worldwide equipment bookings amounted to $3.65 bln in August, while billings reached $3.89 bln.