In April, the sales of the circuit board manufacturers in Germany surpassed all comparable values, as reported by the Verband der Leiterplattenindustrie [Association of the Circuit Board Industry] and the ZVEI-Fachverband Electronic Components and Systems]. Compared to March 2008 the rise was 15.6 percent compared to April 2007 it was 13.5 percent. Also cumulatively the overall volume is 5.5 percent above that of the previous year’s value.
The unusual number of 22 working days in April and the number of 84 working days since the start of the year contributed to the rise. In addition, the association reports that supply bottlenecks and quality problems in Asia also played a role. The orders received are the highest for an April since 2000 – and the same applies to the past year. Compared to the same month of the previous year the orders received rose by 12 percent. The areas of automobile and industrial electronics stood out. The Book-to-Bill ratio reached a value of 1.04 and was slightly lower than in the previous months. The number of employees remains stable; there were only slight changes.
