With no major trend shifts over the last month, electronics industry sentiment was relatively unchanged from September. Product demand has held steady, with costs continuing to improve per IPC’s October 2023 Global Sentiment of the Electronics Supply Chain Report.

“In this month’s survey, we asked a special question about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in electronics manufacturing,” noted Shawn DuBravac IPC chief economist. “Survey respondents indicated that AI is expected to be most useful for predictive maintenance, inventory management, quality control, supply chain management, and office support/activities over the next three years. However, fewer respondents believed AI would be useful for product development, lights-out facilities and sustainability.”

Additional survey data show:

• The New Order Index slipped one point, falling to 100. This is the lowest level for this index since data collection began. The index remains out of negative territory, but a further decline could be imminent.
• Both the Material Costs Index and the Labor Costs Index fell two points this month. This is a new low for the material costs measure.
• Over the next six months, electronics manufacturers expect to see continued, albeit relatively stable, increase in both labor and material costs.
• While profit margins are expected to improve, backlogs and ease of recruitment are likely to remain challenging.
• Backlogs are expected to rise more so among firms primarily operating in APAC, North America, and globally when compared to firms in Europe.

For the report, IPC surveyed hundreds of companies from around the world, including a wide range of company sizes representing the full electronics manufacturing value chain.

View full report.

IPC announced today the September 2023 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.01.

Total North American PCB shipments in September 2023 were down 14.6 percent compared to the same month last year. Compared to the preceding month, August shipments were up 35.7 percent.

PCB bookings in September were down 32.7 percent compared to the same month last year. September bookings were up 45 percent compared to the preceding month.

“The PCB book-to-bill is relatively unchanged this month as both shipments and bookings rose,” said Shawn DuBravac, IPC’s chief economist. “However, this masks weak bookings that have finally pushed the year-to-date shipment trend negative for the first time this year.”

Detailed Data Available

Companies that participate in IPC’s North American PCB Statistical Program have access to detailed findings on rigid PCB and flexible circuit sales and orders, including separate rigid and flex book-to-bill ratios, growth trends by product types and company size tiers, demand for prototypes, sales growth to military and medical markets, and other timely data.

Interpreting the Data

The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC’s survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to twelve months. A ratio of less than 1.00 indicates the reverse.

Year-on-year and year-to-date growth rates provide the most meaningful view of industry growth. Month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they reflect seasonal effects and short-term volatility. Because bookings tend to be more volatile than shipments, changes in the book-to-bill ratios from month to month might not be significant unless a trend of more than three consecutive months is apparent. It is also important to consider changes in both bookings and shipments to understand what is driving changes in the book-to-bill ratio.

IPC’s monthly PCB industry statistics are based on data provided by a representative sample of both rigid PCB and flexible circuit manufacturers selling in the USA and Canada. IPC publishes the PCB book-to-bill ratio by the end of each month.

IPC announced today the September 2023 findings from its North American Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.27.

Total North American EMS shipments in September 2023 were down 9.8 percent compared to the same month last year. Compared to the preceding month, September shipments decreased 12.4 percent.

EMS bookings in September decreased 17.4 percent year-over-year and decreased 14.2 percent from the previous month.

“Lower bookings this month were met with lower shipments, which has kept the book-to-bill at 1.27 for the third consecutive month,” said Shawn DuBravac, IPC’s chief economist.

Detailed Data Available

Companies that participate in IPC’s North American EMS Statistical Program have access to detailed findings on EMS sales growth by type of production and company size tier, order growth and backlogs by company size tier, vertical market growth, the EMS book-to-bill ratio, 3-month and 12-month sales outlooks, and other timely data.

Interpreting the Data

The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC’s survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to twelve months. A ratio of less than 1.00 indicates the reverse.

Year-on-year and year-to-date growth rates provide the most meaningful view of industry growth. Month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they reflect seasonal effects and short-term volatility. Because bookings tend to be more volatile than shipments, changes in the book-to-bill ratios from month to month might not be significant unless a trend of more than three consecutive months is apparent. It is also important to consider changes in both bookings and shipments to understand what is driving changes in the book-to-bill ratio.

IPC’s monthly EMS industry statistics are based on data provided by a representative sample of assembly equipment manufacturers selling in the USA and Canada. IPC publishes the EMS book-to-bill ratio by the end of each month.