Compared to the previous month, rigid printed circuit board shipments declined 2.6% and rigid bookings decreased 6.8%. Flexible circuit shipments in November 2009 went down 3.5% and bookings increased 31.9% compared to November 2008. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments were down 1.1% and bookings were down 2.4%.Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments went down 12.9% and flex bookings fell by 3.4%.

For rigid printed circuit boards and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in November 2009 decreased 10.8% from November 2008, and orders booked decreased 2.2% from November 2008. Year to date, combined industry shipments were down 23.3% and bookings were down 20.1%. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for November 2009 decreased 3.4% and bookings went down 6.6%.

“The negative year-on-year growth rates in printed circuit board sales continue to improve and orders are still outpacing sales—both good signs for the future,” said IPC president Denny McGuirk. “We typically see a slowdown in November sales as the holiday-related demand tapers off. Most encouraging is that the book-to-bill ratio—1.07%—has been in the positive range for seven straight months, which indicates strengthening demand.”

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