Eight months and counting: combined orders of circuit boards and flexible circuits continue downward spiral
BANNOCKBURN, Ill., 4 Oct. 2011. Year-over combined orders for rigid printed circuit boards and flexible circuits manufactured in North America declined for the eighth consecutive month in August, say analysts at IPC, the Association Connecting Electronics Industries in Bannockburn, Ill. Orders of North American circuit boards and flexible circuits in August declined 8 percent from the same month one year ago. Compared to the previous month, however, combined industry orders of North American circuit boards and flexible circuits in August increased 14.3 percent, IPC analysts say.
Combined shipments of North American circuit boards and flexible circuits in August, meanwhile, dropped by 4.4 percent from the same month last year, yet compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for August 2011 increased 13.7 percent. Year to date, and combined industry shipments were up 1.5 percent and bookings were down 8.5 percent, IPC says.
"Although North American circuit board sales in August continued below last year's levels, growth picked up from July to August," says Denny McGuirk, the IPC president and chief executive officer. "The book-to-bill ratio has been trending upward for the past five months, which suggests that sales should hold up through the rest of this year."
August orders of North American printed circuit boards alone were down 6.5 percent over the same month last year, yet compared to the previous month circuit board orders increased 15.4 percent. Year to date, circuit board orders were down 9.6 percent in August. Shipments of printed circuit boards were down 4.2 percent compared to the same month in 2010, yet compared to the previous month, circuit board shipments increased 13.7 percent. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments increased 1.5 percent.
Orders of flexible circuits in August 21.4 percent compared to the same month in 2010, yet compared to the previous month, flexible circuit orders were up 3.2 percent Year to date orders of flexible circuits were up 3.6 percent. Shipments of flexible circuits in August were down 6.5 percent compared to August 2011. Compared to the previous month, August shipments of flexible circuits were down 6.5 percent. Year to date, shipments of flexible circuits increased 1.9 percent.
For more information contact the IPC online at www.ipc.org.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
