The coronavirus-related developments in April and May of this year in particular contributed to PCB manufacturers recording a 17.4% drop in sales in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year, reports the PCB and Electronic Systems Association of the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI).
In the first quarter of this year, PCB manufacturers in the Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH) region already recorded a 7.5% drop in revenue compared to 2019. Although sales figures were slightly better in June, the PCB industry is still expecting a decline in revenue of around 10-15% for the year as a whole.
Not only were orders lower, but existing orders were also postponed or canceled - even at short notice. In the first quarter, however, PCB manufacturers benefited from the fact that China has been unable to deliver since January due to the coronavirus crisis there and orders were shifted back to the DACH region.
The book-to-bill ratio - the ratio of incoming orders to sales - reached a value of 0.78 in the second quarter, compared to 0.93 in the first half of the year due to the high order intake in February and March.
Due to lockdown restrictions and a lack of sales opportunities, many businesses had to close temporarily. The comprehensive short-time working scheme prevented major redundancies. The number of employees fell by four percent.
