BANNOCKBURN, Ill., 27 June 2010. Shipments of rigid and flexible printed circuit boards in North America increased by 29.6 percent in May 2010 compared to the same month one year ago, as orders booked increased 46.8 percent over the same period, report officials of the IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries in Bannockburn, Ill.
Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for May 2010 increased 2.2 percent and bookings went up 8.3 percent. The combined rigid and flex flexible board products industry book-to-bill ratio in May 2010 increased to 1.13.
"Both yearly and monthly growth rates in the North American PCB industry are now positive," says Denny McGuirk, IPC president and chief executive officer. "That means the industry is not only doing better than last year, but is growing monthly as well."
Shipments of rigid printed circuit boards in North America were up 31.4 percent in May 2010 compared to the same month one year ago, while bookings increased 45.8 percent over the same period. Year to date, shipments of rigid board products were up 18 percent and bookings have grown 36.3 percent. Compared to the previous month, rigid circuit board shipments increased 1.3 percent and rigid bookings increased 6.5 percent. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in May 2010 continued its climb to 1.13. Rigid PCBs represent an estimated 90 percent of the current PCB industry in North America.
Flexible circuit shipments in May 2010 were up 10.5 percent, and bookings were up 59.3 percent compared to May 2009. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments were down 2.6 percent and bookings were up 16.7 percent. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments went up 16.0 percent and flex bookings grew by 33.4 percent. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in May 2010 made a long leap up to 1.18.
The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC's survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next two to three months.
For more information contact IPC online at www.ipc.org.
