Association Connecting Electronics Industries^® announced today the May 2018 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Industry shipments and orders in May grew at a strong pace. The book-to-bill ratio strengthened to 1.09.

Figure 1. Trend in North American PCB Book-to-Bill Ratio. ©IPC

Total North American PCB shipments in May 2018 were up 11.7 percent compared to the same month last year. This year to date, shipments are 10.0 percent above the same period last year. Compared to the preceding month, May shipments increased 1.9 percent.

PCB bookings in May increased 21.2 percent year-over-year. Year-to-date order growth was 14.4 percent above the same period last year. Bookings in May were up 6.3 percent from the previous month.

“The pace of growth increased yet again for the North American PCB industry in May,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “Sales growth was positive year-over-year for the ninth consecutive month and sales grew at the fastest pace in more than seven years. Order growth has been strong for the past 12 months. The book-to-bill ratio is above parity (1.0) for the 16th consecutive month, which is a positive indicator of continued growth this year.”

Detailed Data Available

The next edition of IPC’s North American PCB Market Report, containing detailed second-quarter 2018 data from IPC’s PCB Statistical Program, will be available in August. The quarterly report presents detailed findings on rigid PCB and flexible circuit sales and orders, including separate rigid and flex book-to-bill ratios, growth trends by company size tiers, demand for prototypes, sales growth to military and medical markets, 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.

Figure 2. Growth Trends in Total PCB Sales and Orders in North America Year-on-Year Growth Rates. ©IPC

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 twelve 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 normally available in the last week of the following month.