Electronics sales turn cautious, IPC reports

However, rigid printed circuit board shipments continued their upward momentum in April, IPC reports.

Staff Reports -- Electronic Business, 6/10/2008

Editor’s note: The following information is provided by IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries from its business report, the Supply Chain Tracker. Other industry data can be found at www.ipc.org.

April consumer confidence dipped to its lowest level since 1982, when the US economy was deep in an economic downturn. US new orders for electronic products retreated in April along with semiconductor shipments.

However, rigid printed circuit board (PCB) shipments continued their upward momentum. Similarly, electronics manufacturing services (EMS) shipments grew in April. The long-term outlook for the EMS industry remains positive with ever increasing global demand for consumer electronics.

Trends in US computer and electronic products new orders vs North American sales indices of selected supplier industries, May 2007 - April 2008

Note on the graph:  All indices are based on the same baseline of the average month in 2000=100, and reflect a 3-month rolling average.

Sources:  IPC statistical programs for the EMS and PCB industries; SIA for semiconductor data; US Census Bureau for US new orders for computer and electronic products.