BANNOCKBURN, IL - The 90-day moving average shipments of all types of circuit boards slipped 4.5% year-on-year in April, according to the latest poll of U.S. PCB fabricators. Bookings fell 6.5%, as slackened demand for rigid boards more than offset gains in orders for flexible circuits.

A large percentage of the production includes boards built offshore and distributed by North American vendors. According to IPC, which takes the poll, 31% of the shipments reported were produced offshore, up one point from March.

The domestic book-to-bill ratio dropped 0.05 points to 1.0, breaking a streak of four straight months above 1.0. The ratio is based on data collected by IPC from rigid and flex producers and is calculated by dividing three months worth of orders by sales. A ratio over 1.0 is considered an indicator of rising demand.

The ratio for rigid PCBs was down 0.01 to 1.03, while that of flexible circuits dropped 0.20 points to 0.87.

Rigid board shipments, estimated by IPC to make up 75% of all domestic PCBs, were down 10% in April vs. a year ago. Bookings were down 4.5% for the month.

Flex sales fell 17.9% and bookings plummeted 12.8%. Value-added services made up 53% of the shipment value of flex circuits.

Year-to-date, rigid shipments are down 5.9% and bookings are off 4.8%. Flex bookings are down 5% and shipments are up 26.2%. Shipments of all boards are down 0.3% and bookings are down 4.8%.

Sequentially, combined shipments were down 13.0% over March, while bookings fell 11.7%. Rigid shipments were down 19.3% and bookings fell 18.2% sequentially. Flex shipments were up 14.3% and bookings were up 23.5% against March numbers.

Sixty-nine percent of PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 78% of rigid PCB and 40% of flexible circuit shipments in April, IPC said.

In a statement, IPC cautioned that month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they may reflect cyclical effects.

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MOUNT PLEASANT, IA -- Sparton Corp., a Michigan-based contract manufacturer, may buy and save Celestica's assembly factory here, a local TV station reported last week.

Celestica announced plans to close the plant, which employs 340 workers, this year. But if the company keeps the 70,000 sq. ft.  plant open for "for about a year," WHO-TV reported, Sparton will generate sufficient defense and commercial contracts to support the factory.

The plant makes electronic assemblies for Motorola radios, WHO-TV said.

SAN JOSE -- Worldwide sales of semiconductors declined slightly in April to $18.2 billion, a sequential decline of 1.2%, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today. April sales were up 6.9% from last year. April is traditionally a strong month for semiconductor sales, the SIA noted.

"Two factors - a decline in DRAM prices and a lower mix of semiconductors for cell phones - contributed to a slight decline in worldwide semiconductor sales in April," said SIA president George Scalise. "For much of the past year, cellphone manufacturers were working off inventories of chips used in low-end cell phones, which resulted in a richer mix of products shipped. Once those inventories were depleted and normal purchasing patterns resumed, overall ASPs for circuits for cell phones declined. Plentiful supplies of DRAMs contributed to declining prices and a 7% sequential decline in DRAM sales in April."

DRAMs are one of the largest segments of the total semiconductor market.

The SIA reported that overall factory utilization declined slightly in the first quarter to around 85% from 86% in the fourth quarter 2004. Utilization of leading-edge capacity (defined as capable of producing 0.16-micron and smaller geometries) increased to 94 percent from 93 percent. Capacity utilization by integrated device manufacturers remained stable at 87 percent. Foundry utilization continued to decline to 72% of capacity in the first quarter from 78% in the prior quarter. Recent comments from the two leading foundry companies, however, project an increase in foundry capacity utilization in the third quarter.

"Despite the slight decline in April sales, the overall outlook for the semiconductor industry remains strong," said Scalise. "Excess inventories have been eliminated and capacity utilization remains at reasonable levels. Energy prices appear to have stabilized, and U.S. economic growth - an important bellwether for the semiconductor industry -- continues to be strong.

"On the whole, worldwide semiconductor sales continue to run ahead of our November forecast," Scalise said.