BANNOCKBURN, Ill., 31 March 2011. North American orders for printed circuit boards and flexible circuits are beginning to slow down, as bookings in February decreased for the second straight month, when compared to the same month one year ago, report market analysts at IPC - the Association Connecting Electronics Industries in Bannockburn, Ill.
Orders booked for circuit boards and flexible circuits combined in February 2011 decreased 4.1 percent from February 2010, IPC analysts say. January 2011 orders booked for circuit boards and flexible circuits combined decreased 6.5 percent from the same month one year ago. The last increase was two months previous when December 2011 orders for circuit boards and flexible circuits increased 2.9 percent from December 2009, IPC analysts say.
Shipments of circuit boards and flexible circuits in the United States and Canada, meanwhile, increased 4.3 percent in January compared with the same month one year ago. Circuit board and flexible circuit shipments in North America have increased for several consecutive months.
Orders booked for printed circuit boards alone in February decreased 7.3 percent from one year ago, while circuit board shipments in February increased 11.4 percent from February 2010, IPC analysts say. Flexible circuit orders, meanwhile, grew by 36.3 percent in February from the same month last year, while flexible circuit shipments posted year-over growth in February of 8.3 percent, IPC analysts say.
"North American printed circuit board sales continued to grow in February, despite the declining book-to-bill ratio in the rigid printed circuit board segment," says Denny McGuirk, president and chief executive officer of IPC.
"In rigid printed circuit boards, sales have been growing faster than orders for the past six months, but the opposite is happening in the flexible circuit segment," McGuirk says. "Sales in both segments are strong and showing normal seasonal patterns, but we're likely to see stronger growth in flex sales in the coming months."
IPC released these market numbers in its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (circuit board) Statistical Program. For more information contact the IPC online at www.ipc.org.
