April PCB shipments down 34.7% from a year ago

MAY 27, 2009--IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries (Bannockburn, IL, USA; www.ipc.org) announced today the April findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.

Rigid PCB shipments are down 37.1% and bookings are down 26.9% in April 2009 from April 2008. Year-to-date, rigid PCB shipments are down 27.7% and bookings are down 33.7%. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments declined 22.6% and rigid bookings decreased 5.5%. The book-to-bill (B:B) ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in April 2009 increased to 0.98.

Flexible circuits shipments in April 2009 are down 2.1% and bookings are down 0.3% compared to April 2008. Year-to-date, flexible circuit shipments are up 3.9% and bookings are down 5.5%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments declined 14.9% and flex bookings are down 1.5%. The North American flexible circuit B:B ratio in April 2009 improved to 0.94.

For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in April 2009 decreased 34.7% from April 2008 and orders booked decreased 25.1% from April 2008. Year-to-date, combined industry shipments are down 25.7% and bookings are down 32.0%. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for April 2009 are down 21.8% and bookings are down 5.2%. The combined (rigid and flex) industry B:B ratio in April 2009 climbed to 0.97.

"While sales and orders continued to decline in April, there was a marked improvement in the book-to-bill ratio," says IPC President Denny McGuirk. "It is still slightly below parity but increased in April for the third straight month. Rigid PCB orders have climbed above sales for the first time in over a year. I believe we're seeing the first signs of recovery."