Steady growth for PCB market

Cumulative sales figures for the first five months show a 3.7 YoY increase, writes industry association ZVEI PCB and Electronic Systems. Figures for May 2014 second highest in recent years, only surpassed by May 2011. Order intake was lower in May 2014 - 0.5 percent compared to May 2013. Compared sequentially however, order intake increased by more than 12%. The cumulative order intake for 2014 is 8% higher than that of the same period last year. Overall, the book-to-bill ratio reached a value of 1.04. Companies - depending on their size - benefitted differently however. Medium-sized companies with annual sales of between EUR 20 - 50 million were the most successful in May. The number of employees rose compared to May 2013 with 2.6 percent.