North American PCB Industry Shipments Down 18.3% in December

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

IPC announced the December 2023 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 0.90.

Total North American PCB shipments in December 2023 were down 18.3 percent compared to the same month last year. Compared to the preceding month, December shipments were up 1.0 percent.

PCB bookings in December were down 28.7 percent compared to the same month last year. December bookings were down 14.1 percent compared to the preceding month.

“PCB orders fell in the final month of 2023, dropping the Book-to-Bill to the lowest level since May 2023. Orders were down 10 percent in 2023,” said Shawn DuBravac, IPC’s chief economist.

Detailed Data Available

Companies that participate in IPC’s North American PCB Statistical Program have access to detailed findings on rigid PCB and flexible circuit sales and orders, including separate rigid and flex book-to-bill ratios, growth trends by product types and company size tiers, demand for prototypes, sales growth to military and medical markets, and other timely data.

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 by the end of each month.