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IPC Survey Proves Positive Growth in Electronics Industry

Published

4 years ago

September 17, 2019

IPC, a global, member-driven association in the electronics industry, has shared its first-quarter 2019 findings from the organization’s Pulse of the Electronics Industry survey.

Results include:

● The 167 surveyed companies reported an average quarterly sales growth of 8.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018; their average forecast for first-quarter 2019 sales growth was 9.8 percent worldwide.

● Most participating companies reported the current direction for sales, orders, order backlogs, and profit margins as moving in a positive direction, while increasing labor and materials costs and recruiting challenges were the main factors negatively affecting the current-state score.

● Growth in sales, production, number of full-time employees, markets, capital investment, and exports contributed to the strong six-month outlook. The 12-month business outlook also strengthened in the first quarter, with 88 percent of responding companies indicating a positive outlook.

● Workforce issues appear to be the biggest concern in all regions and segments of the industry, followed by tariffs and trade disruptions. The major factor limiting growth is because of the shortage of qualified workers.

Related Topics:August/September 2019 Industry Updates

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