Dec 01, 2015 IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced today the October findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Modest sales growth continued in October and the book-to-bill ratio retreated to 1.02.
Total North American PCB shipments increased 1.4 percent in October 2015 compared to October 2014. Year-to-date shipment growth continued positive at 0.4 percent. Compared to the previous month, PCB shipments were down 6.9 percent.
PCB bookings declined sharply to -20.5 percent compared to October 2014, reducing year-to-date order growth to 2.1 percent. Orders were down 6.0 percent in October compared to the previous month.
“Modest sales growth continued in October for the North American PCB industry, thanks to strong order growth earlier in the year,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “A sharp decline in orders pulled down the book-to-bill ratio in October, although it remains in positive territory,” she added. “Thirteen consecutive months of positive book-to-bill ratios indicates positive sales growth in the fourth quarter of this year, provided orders bounce back.”
Detailed Data Available
The next edition of IPC’s North American PCB Market Report, containing detailed October data from IPC’s PCB Statistical Program, will be available within the next week. The monthly report presents detailed findings on rigid PCB and flexible circuit sales and orders, including separate rigid and flex book-to-bill ratios, military and medical market growth, demand for prototypes, and other timely data. This report is available free to current participants in IPC’s PCB Statistical Program and by subscription to others. More information about this report can be found at www.ipc.org/market-research-reports.
Interpreting the Data
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 three to six months. A ratio of less than 1.00 indicates the reverse.
Year-on-year and year-to-date growth rates provide the most meaningful view of industry growth. Month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they reflect seasonal effects and short-term volatility. Because bookings tend to be more volatile than shipments, changes in the book-to-bill ratios from month to month might not be significant unless a trend of more than three consecutive months is apparent. It is also important to consider changes in both bookings and shipments to understand what is driving changes in the book-to-bill ratio.
IPC’s monthly PCB industry statistics are based on data provided by a representative sample of both rigid PCB and flexible circuit manufacturers selling in the USA and Canada. IPC publishes the PCB book-to-bill ratio at the end of each month. Statistics for the current month are available in the last week of the following month.
IPC (www.IPC.org) is a global industry association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 3,700 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $2 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; Bangalore and New Delhi, India; Bangkok, Thailand; and Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Beijing, China.
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