The US industry association IPC reports falling sales for contract manufacturers for electronics production in March 2023.
According to the 'IPC North American Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Statistical Program', sales in the EMS industry in the USA and Canada fell by 3.1% compared to March 2022. Compared to February 2022, however, they were 6.2% higher. Bookings in March decreased by 7.1%, but increased by 6.2% compared to February 2023. The book-to-bill ratio (B:B) for the EMS industry currently stands at 1.28.
"The trend that has been evident since the fall of 2022 continued in March," commented Shawn DuBravac, IPC Chief Economist. "Shipments in the EMS industry continue to show some strength as supply chain challenges ease. But incoming orders continue to be weak."
The B:B value is calculated by dividing the three-month average order intake of the companies participating in IPC's representative sample industry by the sum of shipments in the same period. A value above 1.00 shows that demand exceeds delivery capacity and is therefore considered an indicator of sales growth in the next three to twelve months. The outlook is correspondingly negative with a value below 1.00. However, the B:B indicator is subject to a certain degree of volatility due to seasonal fluctuations and other short-term economic effects.
IPC is a globally active association with around 3,100 member companies in the electronics industry, including design, PCB production, assembly and testing. The areas of activity are industry standards, training, market research and public relations. Offices are located in Washington, D.C., Atlanta (Georgia), Miami (Florida), Munich, Brussels, Bangalore and New Delhi (India), Bangkok (Thailand), as well as Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Beijing (China).
