BANNOCKBURN, IL – The September 90-day moving average shipments of all types of circuit boards rose 5.3% year-on-year, and bookings rose 36.7%, according to the latest poll of North American PCB fabricators.
A large percentage of the production includes boards built offshore and distributed by North American vendors. According to IPC, 29% of the shipments reported were produced offshore.
The domestic book-to-bill ratio rose to 1.18. The ratio is based on data collected by IPC from rigid and flex producers and is calculated by dividing three months worth of orders by sales. A ratio over 1.0 is considered an indicator of rising demand.
The ratio for rigid PCBs was rose to 1.07, while that of flexible circuits rose to 1.52.
“PCB sales were up in September, following the typical seasonal pattern,” said IPC in a statement. “Compared to last year, rigid PCB sales are staying flat and flexible circuits are continuing their strong growth trend. September bookings numbers are way up in both segments of the industry, which is an encouraging sign for fourth-quarter business.”
Rigid board shipments, estimated by IPC to make up more than 75% of all domestic PCBs, were down 0.5% in September vs. a year ago. Bookings rose 20.2% during the month.
Flex sales rose 28% and bookings jumped 81.4%. Value-added services made up 83% of the shipment value of flex circuits.
Year-to-date, rigid shipments are down 4.7% and bookings are off 1.2%. Flex bookings are up 28.7% and shipments are up 27.4%. Shipments of all boards are up 1.2% and bookings are up 5.9%.
Sequentially, combined shipments were up 9.4% over June, while bookings were up 32.4%. Rigid shipments were up 11.1% and bookings were up 14.9%. Flex shipments fell 4.3% and bookings were up 84.5% over June.
Seventy-one percent of PCB shipments reported was domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 84% of rigid PCB and 33% of flexible circuit shipments in July, IPC said.
In a statement, IPC cautioned that month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they may reflect cyclical effects.
PALO ALTO, CA — Frost & Sullivan today named Plextronics Inc. recipient of the 2005 Technology Innovation of the Year Award in the field of printed electronics. The award recognizes the company’s significant contributions toward the development of conductive polymer technology, trademarked Plexcore, which will help enable broad market commercialization of a wide variety of organic electronics devices.
Frost & Sullivan makes the award annually to a company that has carried out new research, which has resulted in innovation(s) that have or are expected to bring significant contributions to the industry in terms of adoption, change, and competitive posture. The Award recognizes the quality and depth of a company’s research and development program as well as the vision and risk-taking that enabled it to undertake such an endeavor.
"An intimate understanding of the relationship between polymer structure, the resulting physical properties of the polymer, and finally its impact on the performance of organic electronic devices have been applied in the conception of Plexcore technology," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Archana Jayarajah. "The company’s core technology is based on regioregular polythiophenes that have excellent physical and electrical properties and scalability - the key factors for its successful market application."
Plextronics approach to the design and synthesis of conductive polymers has helped the company’s researchers tailor fundamental material properties such as structure, molecular weight, polydispersity, energy level, and end-group functionality for specific end-user needs. The ability to control these variables has enabled the development of application-specific polymer technologies that cost effectively maximize device performance and has resulted in innovations that are patentable and virtually difficult to replicate.
Products based on the Plexcore technology include Plexcore OS, Plexcore HIL, Plexcore PV, and Plexcore TS. Plexcore OS is an organic semiconductor that can help in the fabrication of a new class of low power electronic devices. Plexcore HIL is a solvent-based ink that when printed using spin-cast or inkjet techniques forms transparent, partially conductive thin-films referred to as a ‘hole injection layers’. Plexcore PV, a class of semi-conductive polymers, can strongly absorb sunlight and generate electric charges required to function as a solar cell. Plexcore TS, a solvent-based ink, can be printed using spin-cast or inkjet techniques to form transparent, highly conductive, flexible thin-films.
On the whole, organic electronics is still a relatively new field in which only a few companies can claim to have substantial expertise. Plextronics, on the other hand, benefits from over 15 years of innovation in this area and its core technology has already helped catalyze the development of conductive polymers toward broad commercialization.
"Plextronics’ core technology has
catalyzed the development of conductive polymers toward broad
commercialization. Few companies in this field offer materials and
formulation expertise as well as extensive device fabrication
capabilities," said Jayarajah.