Current demand is outpacing supply
Trade association IPC recently announced statistics for June 2010 from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board Statistical Program. 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. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, a positive indicator of sales growth for the next few months.
Flexible-circuit shipments in June 2010 were up 14.8%, and bookings were up 11.0% compared to June 2009. Year to date, flexible-circuit shipments increased 0.6% and bookings were up 15.5%. Compared to the previous moth, flexible-circuit shipments went up 28.1% and flex bookings declined 2.7%. The North American flexible-circuit book-to-bill ratio in June 2010 remained at 1.15.
“The book-to-bill ratios for both rigid PCBs and flexible circuits remain well above parity, which suggests a positive outlook for the remainder of the year,” says IPC President and CEO Denny McGuirk. “Sales growth is stabilizing, but year-on-year growth in both segments is continuing in double digits.”
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