JULY 30, 2007--IPC--Association Connecting Electronics Industries (Bannockburn, 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 monthly Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Rigid PCB shipments were down 10.7%, and bookings were down 9.8% in June 2007 from June 2006. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 10.9% and bookings are down 16.3%. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments increased 12.3%, and rigid bookings increased 20.8%. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in June 2007 climbed back up above parity to 1.01.
Flexible circuit shipments in June 2007 were down 14.1%, and bookings were down 37.8% compared to June 2006. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments were down 2.3%, and bookings were up 7.3%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments increased 4.5%, and flex bookings were down 3.4%. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio remained positive at 1.12 in June, indicating probable sales growth in the near term.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in June 2007 decreased 11.0% from June 2006, and orders booked decreased 12.2% from June 2006. Year to date, combined industry shipments were down 10.4% and bookings were down 14.9%. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for June 2007 were up 11.8%, and bookings were up 19.0%. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in June 2007 remained just above parity at 1.01.
"The combined PCB book-to-bill ratio has stayed just around parity for the past four months, indicating that PCB sales are likely to continue at about the same level during the third quarter," said IPC president Denny McGuirk. "This year's sales are continuing at around 10% below 2006 sales. This reflects the continuing economic slowdown, but business is holding steady at current levels," he added.
