The Association Connecting Electronic Industries, IPC, has released its Worldwide Annual Printed Circuit Boards Report. The release projects double-digit declines for 2009.
IPC's Worldwide Printed Circuit Boards report includes estimates of printed circuit board production value and laminate market by product type and country to help industry members identify and quantify global printed circuit board material and process equipment opportunities and constraints. The value of printed circuit board production for 2009 is expected to end in a double-digit decline from 2008's $50.8 billion.
Other highlights of the report: China's share of printed circuit board production continued to grow in 2008 to 31.4% of world production, while most other countries' shares either held steady or declined. Japan is the second-biggest producer with 22.5%. Asia now has 84% percent of the world's printed circuit board production value, while North American and European production declined slightly, holding 8% and 7% shares, respectively, in 2008.
High-density interconnect, or HDI, was one of the few growth markets in the printed circuit board industry in 2008 with production heavily concentrated in Asia. The value of printed circuit board production in Europe declined approximately 10% in real terms in 2008. In North America, the production decline was about 6.5%, while the North American market declined by around 5.3%. Industry watchers say this suggests that production levels were affected by both a shrinking home market and continued movement of production to other regions. IC substrates and high-performance printed circuit boards were the only growth areas in North American production in 2008.
