Last week, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released the August production numbers for printed circuit boards. This statistical data from the first eight months of 2009 provides us with a pretty good snapshot of market trends and allows us to forecast performance for the remainder of the year.

August shipments for printed circuit boards in Japan totaled 54.553 billion yen, representing a 7.5% decline from the previous month. This decline can be attributed to the week-long summer vacation in August; however, comparing August 2008 to August 2009 shows a decline of 22.9%.

The good news is this monthly decline rate has decreased steadily over the year, and most of us predict a positive growth rate will be realized before year’s end (comparing month to month).

Related posts:

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2. PCB Industry Performance in Asia
3. German PCB Market Down 14% in October 2008
4. German PCB Market Down Nearly 27 percent in November 2008
5. Weak Beginning for German PCB Market in 2009