NORTHBROOK, IL, July 28 -- Orders for
rigid boards lagged in June, while demand for flex circuits remained
strong, according to the latest three-month moving average of North
American manufacturers.
For all board types, shipments rose 31.3% and bookings were up
13% vs. a year ago, said IPC, which administers the monthly poll. The
figures may include some sales of products built offshore and brokered
by the surveyed companies.
For the first time, data for flex circuits and rigid boards
were broken out. In a statement, IPC said, "Due to divergent growth
trends in the rigid PCB and flexible circuit segments of the industry,
IPC will report separate monthly statistics for the two segments." The
move seems to acknowledge calls by the media, including PCD&M, for
better explanation of the data.
The June book-to-bill was 0.95 for rigid and 1.57 for flex.
"[R]igid and flex shipments are rebounding and showing strong growth,
but flex is growing at a faster rate," IPC said.
The book-to-bill ratio for all board types dropped to 1.06, down 0.05 points.
The ratio is calculated by averaging the number of orders booked
over the past three months and dividing by the average sales billed
during the same period. A ratio of 1.06 means that for every $100 in
shipments, $106 worth of PCBs were booked. An increasing ratio is
generally considered a sign of a market poised to rise.
Shipments are up 35.4% year-to-date, bookings 43.1%. Combined June shipments were up 5% sequentially, while bookings fell 19%.
June rigid shipments were up 28.4% and bookings 16.3% over last
year. Year-to-date, rigid shipments are up 26.7% and bookings are up
23.6%. Among those surveyed, rigid shipments rose 6.4% sequentially and
bookings rose 14.2%.
June flex shipments were up 76.9% but bookings were down 14.9%
vs. last year. Year-to-date, flex shipments are up 79.1% and bookings
147%. Sequentially, flex shipments fell 1.4% and bookings dropped
69.7%.
Flex sales, which include some value-added services, make up about 17% of total PCB sales in the IPC poll.
The data come from a sample of North American rigid and flexible PCB manufacturers.
IPC did not publish June shipment or booking indices.
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