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IPC Releases PCB Industry Results for April

Published: 27 May 2008
 by Staff
BANNOCKBURN, IL. - The IPC has released its findings for April's monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.

Rigid PCB shipments were up 12.2% and bookings were up 5.6% for April year-over-year. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are up 6.6% and bookings are up 12.9%. Compared to last month, rigid PCB shipments decreased 14.7% and bookings decreased 19.3%. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry for April 2008 edged above parity to 1.01.

Flexible circuit shipments in April 2008 were up 22.8% and bookings were down 4.8% as compared to April 2007. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments are up 5.0% and bookings are down 14.3%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments are down 12.5% and bookings fell 16.8%. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio remained at 0.99.

For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in April 2008 increased 12.9%, and booked orders increased 4.8% as compared to April of last year. Combined industry shipments were up 6.5% and bookings were up 10.6%. Sequentially, the combined industry shipments for April were down 14.6% and bookings were down 19.1%, and the combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio reached 1.01.

“The industry continues to show improvement over the same period last year,” said IPC president Denny McGuirk. “The book-to-bill ratio is holding steady, although shipments outpaced bookings in April.”

The book-to-bill ratio is calculated by dividing the value of orders booked in the past three months by the value of sales billed over the same period. A ratio of more than 1.00 indicates that demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next two to three months.
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