BANNOCKBURN, Ill., USA, October 27, 2008 ¡ª IPC ¡ª Association Connecting Electronics Industries??announced today the September findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.
PCB Industry Growth Rates and Book-to-Bill Ratios Announced
Rigid PCB shipments are down 3.8 percent and bookings are down 16.4 percent in September 2008 from September 2007. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are up 4.2 percent and bookings are down 0.8 percent. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments increased 4.5 percent and rigid bookings increased 11.0 percent. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in September 2008 moved up slightly to 0.96.
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Flexible circuit shipments in September 2008 are up 9.0 percent and bookings are up 25.2 percent compared to September 2007. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments are up 9.0 percent and bookings are down 5.3 percent.?Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments are down 4.7 percent and flex bookings increased 50.8 percent. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in September 2008 improved to 0.94.
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For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in September 2008 decreased 3.1 percent from September 2007 and orders booked decreased 14.2 percent from September 2007. Year to date, combined industry shipments are up 4.5 percent and bookings are down 1.1 percent. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for September 2008 are up 3.8 percent and bookings are up 13.3 percent. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in September 2008 remained at 0.95.
¡°Orders and shipments in September showed the usual end-of-quarter increase,¡± said IPC President Denny McGuirk, ¡°but the growth rate appears to be slowing.¡±
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The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC¡¯s survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next two to three months.
(Click here for all the charts in PDF )
Book-to-bill ratios and growth rates for rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined are heavily affected by the rigid PCB segment. Rigid PCBs represent an estimated 90 percent of the current PCB industry in North America, according to IPC¡¯s World PCB Production and Laminate Market Report..
From:www.ipc.org
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