Report: Electronics Industry Shows Slowdown in September Oct 26, 2011

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Rigid PCB shipments were down 13.1% and bookings were down 19.9% in September 2011 from September 2010, according to IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments decreased 0.4% and bookings declined 10.8%. Compared to August 2011, September rigid PCB shipments were up 3.5% and rigid bookings were down 8.9%. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in September 2011 dipped below parity at 0.99.

Flexible circuit shipments in September 2011 were down 0.7% and bookings down 1.8% from September 2010. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments were up 1.6% and bookings were up 3.0%. Compared to the August 2011, flexible circuit shipments in September 2011 were up 20.1% and flex bookings were up 9.9%. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in September 2011 fell to 0.97.

For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in September 2011 were down 12.0% from September 2010. Orders booked were down 18.4% from September 2010. Year to date, combined industry shipments were down 0.2% and bookings were down 9.6%. Compared to August 2011, combined industry shipments in September 2011 were up 4.9% and bookings were down 7.3%. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in September 2011 declined to 0.99.

“Sales and orders were both under last year’s levels in September,” said IPC President and CEO Denny McGuirk. “Bookings have been especially sluggish and that has caused a drop in the book-to-bill ratio, although it is still very near parity, which suggests that flat sales is the likely near-term scenario.”

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