Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Rigid PCB Shipments Continue to Slide, Down 23.2% in February YoY

Maximizing Yields with Minimal Iterations
DfM practices for preventing common fab and assembly defects.
READ MORE...
Clearance and Creepage in PCB Design
An overview of standards and guidelines for high-voltage applications.
READ MORE...
Addressing the Global Talent Shortage
Changing dynamics in the workforce are driving the need for an intuitive user experience. Are the tools up to the task?
READ MORE...
So You’re a Designer. Now What?
PCB designers can have many different career pathways.
READ MORE...
How to Run a Design of Experiments
A review of the six fundamental steps behind scientific process development.
READ MORE...

Printed Circuit Design & Fab Magazine

BANNOCKBURN, IL – February PCB shipments and bookings continued to slide, according to the IPC’s most recent update of the North American PCB Statistical Program.

Rigid PCB shipments were down 23.2%, and bookings were down 35.5% year-over-year. Rigid PCB shipments, year-to-date, are down 21.1%, and bookings are down 33.2%.

February shipments slipped an additional 3.2% over January, and bookings declined 3.5%. The book-to-bill ratio remained below parity at 0.89.

Flexible circuit shipments were up 3.6 %, but bookings were down 6.1%, compared to last year. Flexible circuit shipments are up 9.4%, and bookings are down 4.2% for the year. The book-to-bill ratio climbed just above parity to 1.02.

Year-to-date, the combined industry shipments are down 19.2%, and bookings are down 31.6%.

“The book-to-bill ratio for PCBs overall has stayed in negative territory for 10 months now, and orders are still declining compared to last year,” said IPC President Denny McGuirk. “This suggests we will continue to see weak sales for the next few months at least. The flexible circuit segment of the industry is faring better than rigid PCBs right now,” he added.

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 1.0 suggests parity. 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% of the current PCB industry in North America, according to IPC’s World PCB Production and Laminate Market Report.

In February, 89% of the total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced, and flexible circuit manufacturers indicated that bare circuits accounted for approximately 78% of the shipment value reported for the month. Assembly and other services make up a large and growing segment of flexible circuit producers’ businesses.

JANUARY ISSUE

View the Digital
Edition Here!

Rigid PCB Shipments Continue to Slide, Down 23.2% in February YoY

POPULAR

Press Releases