FRANKFURT, GERMANY – Second quarter printed circuit board sales in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria grew 2.1% year-over-year and fell 5.2% sequentially.

For the first half of 2018, PCB sales in the region were up 4.4%, says ZVEI.

In the second quarter, orders were down 2% compared to the same period last year and down 11.4% sequentially. Orders in the first half of the year were down 1.4% year-over-year.

The book-to-bill ratio reached 0.96 in the second quarter.

Strong growth since the beginning of 2017 has been driven by a sharp increase in demand and many orders placed in Europe to secure supplies, says ZVEI. In Asia, copper foils and laminates were scarce at the beginning of the year and jeopardized deliveries.

ZVEI expects the positive business trend to continue in 2018. Demand is rising as a result of technological changes and new customer industries, for example in the automotive, communications and industry 4.0 sectors. On the other hand, a component shortage that could last well into the coming year has an effect.

The number of employees in the second quarter was 0.8% higher than in the first quarter and 2.5% higher than in the same quarter of the previous year.

Register now for PCB WEST, the leading trade show for the printed circuit design and electronics manufacturing industry! Coming Sept. 11-13 to the Santa Clara Convention Center.

• Prev
• Next