MAY 28, 2008--IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries (Northbrook, IL, USA; www.ipc.org), a global trade association of 2400 member companies representing all facets of the electronic interconnection industry, has announced its findings from its April 2008 Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Rigid PCB shipments were up 6.6% and bookings were up 12.9%. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments decreased 14.7% and rigid bookings decreased 19.3%. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in April 2008 edged up above parity to 1.01.
Flexible circuit shipments in April 2008 were up 22.8% and bookings were down 4.8% compared to April 2007. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments were up 5.0% and bookings were down 14.3%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments were down 12.5% and flex bookings fell 16.8%. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio remained at 0.99.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in April 2008 increased 12.9% from April 2007, and orders booked increased 4.8% from April 2007. Year to date, combined industry shipments were up 6.5% and bookings were up 10.6%. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for April 2008 were down 14.6% and bookings were down 19.1%. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in April 2008 reached 1.01.
"The industry continues to show improvement over the same period last year," said IPC president Denny McGuirk. "The book-to-bill ratio is holding steady, although shipments outpaced bookings in April."
