The Association Connecting Electronic Industries (IPC) released the findings of its July 2011 members survey. Highlights are as follows:
Rigid PCB shipments were down 10.2 percent and bookings were down 17.0 percent in July 2011 from July 2010. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments increased 2.3 percent and bookings declined 10.0 percent. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments decreased 24.8 percent and rigid bookings decreased 19.0 percent. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in July 2011 remained near parity at 0.99. Flexible circuit shipments in July 2011 were down 28.3 percent and bookings declined 4.5 percent compared to July 2010. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments increased 3.2 percent and bookings also increased 8.0 percent. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments decreased 17.8 percent and flex bookings fell 34.9 percent. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in July 2011 jumped to 1.20.For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in July 2011 decreased 12.1 percent from July 2010, as orders booked decreased 16.0 percent from July 2010. Year to date, combined industry shipments were up 2.4 percent and bookings were down 8.5 percent. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for July 2011 decreased 24.2 percent and bookings decreased 20.8 percent. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in July 2011 climbed to just above parity at 1.01.“July is typically a slower month than June for the PCB industry,” said IPC President & CEO Denny McGuirk. “Negative year-on-year growth rates in North American PCB sales and orders for July reflect slowing growth compared to the height of the recovery one year ago. The good news is the book-to-bill ratio remains just above parity, largely due to the continued strength of flexible circuit orders.”The July 2011 IPC Report is available in its entirety online.