IPC (U.S. Association Connecting Electronics Industries) has recently announced the July 2016 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board Statistical Program. Compared to the same month last year, PCB sales growth continued in July, while order growth was negative, causing the book-to-bill ratio to slip to 0.94. Total North American PCB shipments in July 2016 were 1.2 percent above the same month last year. Year-to-date as of July, shipment growth is up 5.4 percent. Compared to the preceding month, July shipments were down 18 percent. PCB bookings in July decreased 16.3 percent year-on-year, bringing year-to-date bookings growth down to a negative 1.1 percent. Orders in July 2016 were down 26.1 percent from the previous month. “While year-on-year sales growth continued in the North American PCB industry in July, it was the decline in orders for the second consecutive month that pushed the book-to-bill ratio farther down – said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research -. Growth rates have been mixed for different segments of the industry, with some extreme differences between rigid PCB and flexible circuit producers, and between company size tiers”.
