MAY 31--IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries (Northbrook, IL) has announced the findings from its monthly statistical program. The US printed-circuit-board (PCB) industry book-to-bill ratio for April 2002 was 0.94. Sales billed (shipments) in April 2002 decreased 31.5% from April 2001, and orders booked decreased 10.9% from April 2001. Compared to 2001, bookings of PCBs are down 27.2% year-to-date, while shipments of PCBs are down 37.6% 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 131.9 and the PCB booking index was 123.7 for April 2002. The IPC PCB shipment index in April 2002 decreased 13.0% from 151.6 in March 2002, and the IPC PCB booking index in April 2002 decreased 15.9% from 147.0 in March 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 US 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.
For more information, contact IPC market research manager John Hassman at [email protected] or 847-790-5320.
