BANNOCKBURN, IL – April shipments of rigid PCBs were down 12.8% and bookings were off 11.8% year-over-year, IPC reported today.

Shipments of rigid and flex boards decreased 12% year-over-year, and orders dropped 8.5%. Year to date, shipments are down 9.1% and bookings are down 16.5%. Compared to March, April shipments were down 16.2% and bookings were off 15.3%. 

The combined industry book-to-bill ratio in April increased to 1.01, 1.28 for flex boards and 1.0 for rigid.

Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 9.9% and bookings are down 18.9%. Sequentially, rigid PCB shipments fell 15.5% and bookings decreased 12.6%. 

Flex circuit shipments were up 3% and bookings were up 68.9% compared to April last year. For the year, flex shipments are up 3.9%, bookings 30.1%. Flex shipments fell 25.1% and bookings were down 39.2% versus March.