IPC Book-to-Bill for December 2003

IPC announced the findings from its monthly Interconnect Manufacturing Services (IMS)/Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Book to Bill at 1.11IMS/PCB Book-to-Bill Ratio The North American IMS/PCB Industry Book-to-Bill Ratio for December 2003 remained positive at 1.11. The ratio is calculated by averaging the index numbers for orders booked over the past three months and dividing by the average index numbers for sales billed during the same period. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which indicates probable near-term growth. Industry sales billed (shipments) in December 2003 increased 2.9 percent from December 2002, and orders booked increased 12.2 percent from December 2002. Compared to 2002, shipments of PCBs are down 16.8 percent year-to-date, while bookings of PCBs are down 6.0 percent year-to-date. IMS/PCB Business Report The IMS/PCB Business Report, an IPC statistical report that tracks the dynamics of the U.S. IMS industry, reported the IMS/PCB shipment index was 126.3 and the IMS/PCB booking index was 137.1 for December 2003. The IPC IMS/PCB shipment index in December 2003 decreased 2.8 percent from 129.9 in November 2003, and the IPC IMS/PCB booking index in December 2003 decreased 3.0 percent from 141.4 in November 2003. The index shows how current PCB shipments and bookings relate to an index point. In this case, 1992 was chosen as the index point because it was a stable growth year for U.S. PCB manufacturers. A shipment index number of 117.0, for example, indicates that shipments are 17 percent higher than average shipments for the same time period in 1992. The indices are calculated by setting the base year (1992) equal to 100 and then multiplying the monthly growth rates of the actual shipments and bookings by the corresponding index number. Percentages based on the index numbers reflect changes in the size of the industry. Data reported by current participants in IPC’s monthly survey, however, tell a different story. These participating companies report that their shipments increased 15.5 percent in December 2003 over December 2002, and that their orders booked increased 27.4 percent in December, year-over-year. Year-to-date, current survey participants report shipments have increased 1.2 percent and bookings have increased 11.7 percent over the same period in 2002. Together, these figures show a North American PCB industry that has contracted, but the companies that remain in the industry are doing better than last year. The information in IPC’s monthly industry statistics is based on data provided by both rigid and flexible PCB manufacturers that participate in IPC’s monthly IMS Statistical Program. These companies represent approximately 60 percent of the U.S. IMS industry. IPC publishes the IMS Book-to-Bill Ratio and the IMS Business Report each month. (Statistics for the previous month are not available until the last week of the following month.) For more information, contact IPC Director of Marketing Research Sharon Starr at SharonStarr@ipc.org or +1 847-790-5317.