A study conducted by IPC (Association Connecting Electronics Industries) on the North American PCB industry forecasts moderate domestic production growth through 2017. The estimated size of the market declined in 2014 for the fourth consecutive year, driven by continued declines in sales of rigid PCB, according to the IPC’s report “2015 Analysis & Forecast for the North American PCB Industry”, but the signs are better for 2015 and beyond.
The last available data show that moderate sales growth continued in October 2015 and the book-to-bill ratio retreated to 1.02. Total North American PCB shipments increased 1.4 percent compared to October 2014. Year-to-date shipment growth continued positive at 0.4 percent. However, 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 percent in October 2015 compared to the previous month.
