BANNOCKBURN, Ill., 6 Sept. 2013. Year-on-year sales growth of printed circuit boards in the United States and Canada has been improving steadily over the past three months, bolstered by solid growth in orders since the beginning of 2013, say analysts at IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries in Bannockburn, Ill.
Total North American circuit board shipments decreased 1.5 percent in July 2013 from July 2012, yet bookings increased 10.2 percent year over year, IPC analysts say.
"Month-to-month growth is typically negative in the first month of the quarter due to seasonal trends," explains Sharon Starr, IPC's director of market research. "Year-on-year growth is the best indicator of industry performance, and these growth rates in July continue to be encouraging."
Most of the improvements in July's results are due to the strong performance of the rigid circuit board segment. "Rigid circuit board year-on-year sales growth in July reached positive territory for the first time in more than two years," Starr says. "Orders in both rigid and flex segments were strong, resulting in a slight uptick in the circuit board book-to-bill ratio."
Year to date, circuit board industry shipments were down 4.2 percent, while bookings were up 0.1 percent. Compared to the previous month, circuit board shipments in July were down 13.7 percent and bookings were down 3.2 percent. Bookings exceeded shipments in July and the circuit board book-to-bill ratio strengthened to 1.06.
For more information contact IPC online at www.ipc.org.
