Bannockburn, Ill. — IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced the May findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.

 

Rigid PCB shipments were down 34.2 percent and bookings were down 25.7 percent in May 2009 from May 2008. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments were down 29.0 percent and bookings were down 32.2 percent. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments grew 3.6 percent and rigid bookings decreased 1.1 percent. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in May 2009 continued to climb and reached 1.03.

 

Flexible circuit shipments in May 2009 are down 3.0 percent and bookings are down 12.9 percent compared to May 2008. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments are up 2.5 percent and bookings are down 7.1 percent. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments declined 10.4 percent and flex bookings are down 11.8 percent. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in May 2009 inched up to 0.96.

 

For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in May 2009 decreased 32.2 percent from May 2008 and orders booked decreased 24.8 percent from May 2008. Year to date, combined industry shipments are down 26.9 percent and bookings are down 30.7 percent. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for May 2009 are up 2.1 percent and bookings are down 2.1 percent. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in May 2009 climbed to 1.02.

 

“After 12 consecutive months in negative territory, the book-to-bill ratio has finally climbed above 1.0 and that is good news for the industry,” said IPC President Denny McGuirk. “It is a good indicator of sales growth over the next few months. Sales growth is already starting to turn the corner,” he added. “Even though year-over-year sales growth is still negative, growth rates in the rigid PCB segment improved slightly over the previous month.”