IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries releases book-to-bill ratio and March PCB business report
APRIL 26--According to the IPC (Northbrook, IL), the US printed-circuit-board (PCB) industry book-to-bill ratio for March 2002 was 0.98. Sales billed (shipments) in March 2002 decreased 33.6% from March 2001, and orders booked decreased 14.8% from March 2001. Compared to 2001, bookings of PWBs are down 28.2% year-to-date, while shipments of PWBs are down 39.3% year-to-date.
The ratio is calculated by averaging the number of orders booked over the past three months and dividing by the average sales billed during the same period.
The PCB Business Report, an IPC statistical report that tracks the dynamics of the US PCB industry, reported the PCB shipment index was 151.6 and the PCB booking index was 147.0 for March 2002. The IPC PCB shipment index in March 2002 increased 12.5% from 134.8 in February 2002, and the IPC PCB booking index in March 2002 increased 21.5% from 121.0 in February 2002.
The index shows how current PCB shipments and bookings relate to an index point. (In this case, 1992 was chosen as the index point because it was a stable growth year for U.S. PCB manufacturers.) A shipment index number of 117.0 indicates that shipments are 17% higher than average shipments for the same time period in 1992. The indices are calculated by setting the base year (1992) equal to 100 and then multiplying the monthly growth rates of the actual shipments and bookings by the corresponding index number.
The information in the IPC monthly industry statistics is based on data provided by both rigid and flexible PCB manufacturers that participate in IPC's monthly Statistical Program. These companies represent 60% of the U.S. domestic printed circuit board market. IPC publishes the book-to-bill ratio and the PCB Business Report each month. (Statistics for the previous month are not available until the last week of the following month.)
For more information, contact IPC market research manager John Hassman at [email protected] or 847-790-5320.