BANNOCKBURN, IL – Total North American printed circuit board shipments increased 0.8% year-over-year in October, says IPC. Year-to-date shipments are down 1%. Sequentially, PCB shipments were down 5.2%.

In October, PCB orders increased 28.8% year-over-year. Year-to-date orders are down 1.1%. Order growth jumped 15.5% sequentially.

The North American PCB book-to-bill ratio rebounded to 1.05 in October. A ratio of more than one suggests current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to six months.

“Unusually strong growth in North American PCB orders in October is good news for an industry that has experienced declining sales for more than three years,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “The impact can be seen in the book-to-bill ratio, which made a strong comeback this month, indicating sales may begin to rebound by the end of the year.”

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