IPC reports PCB industry B:B of 0.88 for January

MARCH 2, 2009--IPC-- Association Connecting Electronics Industries (Bannockburn, IL, USA; www.ipc.org) has announced the January findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.

Rigid PCB shipments are down 18.9% and bookings are down 30.7% in January 2009 from January 2008. The book-to-bill (B:B) ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in January 2009 slipped further to 0.88.

Flexible circuit shipments in January 2009 were up 16.6% and bookings were down 1.8% compared to January 2008. The North American flexible circuit B:B ratio declined to 0.98.

For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in January 2009 decreased 17.0% from January 2008, and orders booked decreased 29.3% from January 2008. The combined (rigid and flex) industry B:B ratio in January 2009 fell to 0.89.

"Sales and orders of rigid PCBs declined sharply in January compared to January 2008, but flexible circuit sales were surprisingly strong," says IPC president Denny McGuirk. "Orders in both segments of the industry were down compared to last year, and this is reflected in the continuing downward trend of the book-to-bill ratio," he adds. "The industry has not hit the bottom yet, but we will continue to watch the leading indicators, such as our book-to-bill ratio, for signs of an upturn," McGuirk concludes.

-- Posted by Vision Systems Design, www.vision-systems.com