NOVEMBER 4, 2009--IPC- Association Connecting Electronics Industries (Bannockburn, IL, USA; www.ipc.org) has released the September findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.
Rigid PCB shipments declined 15.9% and bookings were down 7.8% in September 2009 from September 2008. Year-to-date, rigid PCB shipments were down 27.3% and bookings fell by 24.7%. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments grew by 21.7% and rigid bookings increased 29.7%. The book-to-bill (B:B) ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in September 2009 remained at 1.09.
Flexible circuit shipments in September 2009 went up 7.9% and bookings increased 12.1% compared to September 2008. Year-to-date, flexible circuit shipments were down 1.5% and bookings were down 4.9%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments went up 22.0% and flex bookings increased 48.1%. The North American flexible circuit B:B ratio in September 2009 climbed to 0.95.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in September 2009 decreased 14.3% from September 2008 and orders booked decreased 6.4% from September 2008. Year-to-date, combined industry shipments were down 25.5% and bookings were down 23.4%. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for September 2009 increased 21.8% and bookings went up 31.0%. The combined (rigid and flex) industry B:B in September 2009 reached 1.08.
"We're finally starting to see the turnaround in the September numbers for the North American PCB industry," says IPC president Denny McGuirk. "Both rigid PCB and flexible circuit sales and orders are up by double digits compared to August. Rigid PCB sales and orders are still below September of last year, but the rate of decline is shrinking. Flexible circuit business is ahead of September last year. The most promising indicator is the book-to-bill ratio at 1.08," he adds. "It has been above parity for five consecutive months."
--Posted by Vision Systems Design, www.vision-systems.com
