BANNOCKBURN, IL – The
IPC (Association Connecting Electronics Industries) announced May 2008 book-to-bill ratios for rigid PCB shipments was up 5.7% and while bookings for themonth were down 4.1% versus May 2007. Rigid PCB shipments were up 6.4% and bookings up 9.4%, year-to-date. The book-to-bill ratio for the N.A. rigid PCB industry fell however to 0.95 for May.
Flexible circuit shipments for May are down 3.5% and bookings are down 5.0% compared to May 2007. Year-to-date, flexible circuit shipments are up 3.3% and bookings are down 12.5%. The N.A. flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio is 1.01.
The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio for May 2008 fell to 0.96.
“Rigid PCB shipments have outpaced bookings in the last two months, which drove down the book-to-bill ratio for the industry,” said IPC President Denny McGuirk. “Overall industry growth this year is still modest but steady.”