FRANKFURT – The German area PCB market recorded fourth quarter sales up 1.7% year-over-year, according to ZVEI, almost a quarter of total annual sales.

Orders during the fourth quarter were up 4.7% compared to the same quarter of 2019. Growth is attributed to price increases and shortages that occurred in Asia early in the second half of 2020. As a result, the automotive industry relocated certain time-critical orders to Europe, which resulted in a sharp increase in orders. In contrast, the value of new orders fell 3.9% in 2020.

The book-to-bill ratio reached 1.13 for the fourth quarter. The number of employees fell 4.2% year-over-year.

PCB manufacturer sales in 2020 fell 9% compared to 2019. The industry reached its lowest point in the second quarter.

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