BANNOCKBURN, IL. - The IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries has announced its February findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.

Rigid PCB shipments are down 0.7% and bookings are up 15.6% in February 2008 as compared to February 2007. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are up 2.3% and bookings are up 14.7%. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments increased 1.7% and rigid bookings increased 20.6%. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in February 2008 is 0.99.

Flexible circuit shipments in February 2008 are up 5.9% and bookings are up 12.4% compared to February 2007. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments are down 6.2% and bookings are down 5.1%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments are up 25.3% and flex bookings rose 27.7%. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio held steady at 0.96.

For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in February 2008 decreased 0.3% from February 2007, and orders booked increased 15.4% from February 2007. Year to date, combined shipments are up 1.8% and bookings are up 13.3%. Compared to the previous month, combined shipments for February 2008 are up 3.0% and bookings are up 21.0%. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in February 2008 moved up to 0.99.
 
"The seasonal month-to-month growth in the rigid PCB segment from January to February is typical," said IPC President Denny McGuirk. "Year-over-year growth is more telling," he added, "... and although we are only two months into 2008 in terms of available data, the industry appears to be holding steady compared to last year. The book-to-bill ratio is showing improvement, which is a positive sign."

The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked 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, which indicates a trend toward positive sales growth.

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