NEWS
IDC Slashes 2025 Smartphone Growth Forecast to 0.6%
NEEDHAM, MA – IDC this week sharply reduced its global smartphone shipment forecast to 0.6%, down from 2.3% projected earlier this year. The downgrade reflects ... Read More...
IDC Lifts PC and Tablet Forecasts
NEEDHAM, MA – IDC has raised its global PC forecast, projecting shipments will grow 4.1% year-over-year to reach 274 million units. The upgraded outlook follows... Read More...
PCB Management Forum to Debut at PCB West 2025; Gene Weiner and Mike Buetow Comment
SANTA CLARA, CA – The Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA (https://pcea.net)) today announced the debut of the PCB Management Forum at PCB West (https... Read More...
North American EMS Industry Shipments Up 0.2% in April
BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American EMS shipments rose 0.2% in April compared to the same month in 2024, according to IPC data released this week. Shipments dipped... Read More...
North American PCB Industry Shipments Down 6.8% in April
BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American printed circuit board shipments fell 6.8% in April from the same month last year, IPC reported today. Despite the year-over-yea... Read More...
PCB West 2025 Technical Conference Announced
PEACHTREE CITY, GA – May 27, 2025 – The Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA (https://pcea.net)) today announced the technical program for PCB West (ht... Read More...
Bipartisan Bill Reintroduced to Boost US PCB Manufacturing
WASHINGTON, DC – Representatives Blake Moore (R-UT) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) last week reintroduced the Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates Act, a bi... Read More...
SEMI Forecasts Mixed Semiconductor Outlook
MILPITAS, CA – The global semiconductor industry followed traditional seasonal trends in the first quarter, but uncertainty surrounding new tariffs is expected ... Read More...
AT&S Grows Revenue Amid Industry Headwinds
LEOBEN – AT S reported revenue of $1.72 billion for the year, up from $1.68 billion from the prior year, despite continued global pricing pressure and weak indu... Read More...
Taiwan’s PCB Industry to Grow 6% to $40B in 2025
TAIWAN – Taiwan’s PCB industry is projected to reach $39.9 billion this year, growing 5.8% year-over-year, according to a joint report by the Taiwan Printed Cir... Read More...
PCB East 2025 Basks in Higher Attendance, Conference Plaudits
PEACHTREE CITY, GA – Attendance for the PCB East (https://www.pcbeast.com) 2025 exhibits rose nearly 4% year-over-year, the Printed Circuit Engineering Associat... Read More...
Epec Acquires Roca Printed Circuits
DALLAS – Epec Engineered Technologies' NetVia Group division has acquired Roca Printed Circuits, a move aimed at enhancing both companies’ printed circuit board... Read More...
TechSearch Warns of Substrate Shortage by 2029
AUSTIN, TX – A supply shortage of build-up substrates is looming, starting in 2029, with tight conditions emerging as early as 2028, according to a new report f... Read More...
ICAPE Reports Revenue Up 13% YoY
FONTENAY-AUX-ROSES, FRANCE – ICAPE Group posted first quarter revenue of $54.9 million, a 13% increase from the same period last year. Read More...
MKS Breaks Ground on $40M Thailand Facility
ANDOVER, MA – MKS Instruments has begun construction on a $40 million chemical manufacturing facility and technical center near Bangkok. Read More...
FEATURES
Component Land Patterns: A Primer
A manufacturer’s perspective on determining parts layout. A land pattern refers to the footprint or layout of surface-mount components on a printed circuit boa... Read More...
For Design Tools, Another Record. Can It Last?
If a recession is indeed ahead, Wally Rhines thinks the PCB design software industry is a “great place to hide.” The figure tells the story: sales of printed c... Read More...
Are You Using Too Many Vias?
Conventional wisdom regarding via count is wrong. Here’s the proof. Conventional wisdom has suggested: The cross-sectional area of a via should have at least ... Read More...
What is the Best Material for a High-Speed PCB?
Consider return loss and insertion loss – but don’t stop there. Material selection for high-speed printed circuit board design (http://www.PCBwest.com) is one ... Read More...
Sequential Lamination in PCB Manufacturing
Higher layer count boards with mechanically drilled blind or buried vias may be built separately, then laminated together. Sequential lamination is a fundament... Read More...
Characterizing Etchback and Dielectric Loss Tangent
Fabrication-aware simulations to aid PCB design success. As engineers design printed circuit boards (PCBs) to operate at higher data rates, the system’s signal... Read More...
Can Thailand Pad its PCB Gains?
2023 saw only a handful of fabricators gain ground, but SE Asia is primed to boom. Small it was, but the Thailand Electronics Circuit Asia exhibition held in B... Read More...
Fundamentals of Signal Integrity at Various Frequencies
Tips and tricks for applications of all speeds, from 1MHz to gigabit level. How do you know a high-speed design application from an ordinary one? What qualifie... Read More...
Young Guns: The 2024 Designers Salary Survey
The annual snapshot of the industry finds the PCB design workforce is – at last – skewing younger. Is the PCB design workforce finally getting younger? After y... Read More...
PCB Design. No Humans Required.
An electronics startup is developing AI-driven design software that lessens manual intervention. The role of artificial intelligence in PCB design is a growing... Read More...
AI: The Shiny New Tool in the Engineer's Toolbox
Searching for components and automating schematic capture are just two of the ways AI will be implemented in PCB design. During the past 10 years, artificial i... Read More...
‘Everybody is Growing’
The East Coast trade show brings news of a steady industry, while puncturing myths about AI. Members of the electronics community gathered in the Boston suburb... Read More...
Measuring Quality Over Time
Using the Weibull distribution to model gold wire bonding on ENEPIG. The most used distribution in reliability analysis may be the Weibull distribution. Its ge... Read More...
How the PCB Stackup Helps Control EMI
Power and signal placed on outer layers minimize radiated emissions. The PCB stackup is like a building's foundation; a product not built on a strong base will... Read More...
Exploring the Impact of AI
A special panel discusses the growth of AI tools and its possible effects on the industry. “Will AI take my job?” That’s the question on the mind of many arou... Read More...
PRODUCTS
Asahi Kasei Launches Sunfort TA Series Dry-Film Photoresist
Asahi Kasei Sunfort TA series dry-film photoresist enables high-resolution circuit patterning using conventional stepper exposure and laser direct imaging (LDI)... Read More...
Siemens Announces Xpedition Standard PCB Design Tool
Siemens Xpedition Standard AI-enhanced PCB design platform combines cloud collaboration, AI automation and professional-grade toolsets tailored for small and mi... Read More...
Zuken Launches CR-8000 2025 PCB Design Software
Zuken CR-8000 2025 printed circuit board design (http://www.PCBwest.com) software features updates to Design Gateway and Design Force, including intelligent sch... Read More...
Siemens Launches Pads Pro Essentials PCB CAD
Siemens Digital Industries Software Pads Pro Essentials incorporates features of its higher-end Xpedition technology in a streamlined, cloud-connected design en... Read More...
Vishay Extends D2TO35 Series SMT Resistors
Vishay D2TO35 series surface-mount thick film power resistors come with AEC-Q200 qualified device that delivers pulse absorption up to 15 J/0.1 s and offer powe... Read More...
Celus Upgrades Celus Design Platform
Celus Design Platform now includes Design Assistant, an AI-driven feature that creates full projects from a simple image or text command. Simplifies design work... Read More...
TTM Technologies Releases RF Components
TTM Technologies high-performance RF components, including XMB0465Z1-50100G and XMB0220K1-50100G, are for telecom, test and mil-aero applications. Includes ultr... Read More...
Amphenol RF Extends SMA Connectors Line
Amphenol RF SMA connectors are now compatible with 0.81 mm and 1.32 mm cable, engineered for secure, routable RF performance in harsh environments. Read More...
Jiva Materials Launches RPCB PCB
Jiva Materials RPCB has a 67% smaller carbon footprint compared to FR-4. Is said to be fully compatible with low-temperature soldering and standard PCB assembly... Read More...
IMS Launches 20-GHz Temperature-Variable Attenuators
IMS AV-0607-C temperature variable attenuators for RF power amplifiers, broadcast equipment and multiband communication systems feature low-noise, thin-film con... Read More...
Vishay Upgrades LTO Series Thick-Film Power Resistor
Vishay LTO 150H resistor handles higher pulse energy for protection in high-stress environments. Absorbs up to 75J/0.1s and dissipates 150W at 45°C, with low th... Read More...
Vishay Releases AEC-Q100 Sensor
Vishay Intertechnology has launched the VEML6046X00, the first AEC-Q100 qualified RGBIR color sensor comes in.Page Break (administrator/index.php?option=com_con... Read More...
SnapChip Launches X-Refs.com Parts Search Engine
SnapChip's X-Refs.com AI-powered cross-reference search engine for electronic components ensures up-to-date part suggestions and seamless integration. Read More...
KiCad Releases KiCad 9.0.0 ECAD Tool
KiCad 9.0.0 ECAD software now features predefined sets of jobs; for example, plotting, exporting, and running design rule checks (DRC) on schematics and PCBs. Read More...
atg Luther Maelzer Releases A9L Flying Probe Tester
atg Luther Maelzer A9L large format flying probe tester handles circuit boards up to 36” x 26” (915mm x 660mm). Read More...
PCB Chat
Tweets by Mike Buetow
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- by Greg Papandrew
- by Jeffrey Beauchamp
- by John Burkhert, Jr.
- by Michele Nash-Hoff
- by Alun Morgan
- by Mike Buetow
Hot Wires
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A Kiss to K&S
A Kiss to K&S
I have to admit, the news that Kulicke & Soffa will wind down its electronics assembly equipment business as part of a revamp of its strategic plan makes me a bit sad. The K&S division, which makes SMT placement machines[…]
Created on: Apr 1, 2025
Apr 1, 2025 -
Will Tariffs Tax Market Research Efforts?
Will Tariffs Tax Market Research Efforts?
While the potential impacts of tariffs have been discussed in spades across the boardrooms, lunchrooms and mediasphere, there's one aspect to them that in my opinion has been underreported. Continue reading → The post Will Tariffs Tax Market Research Efforts?[…]
Created on: Mar 8, 2025
Mar 8, 2025 -
Can Apple’s Investment Announcement Be Believed?
Can Apple’s Investment Announcement Be Believed?
Apple on Monday announced plans to invest some $500 billion and and hire 20,000 workers in the United States over the next four years. The centerpiece of the splashy news is a future 250,000 sq. ft. factory in Texas where[…]
Created on: Feb 25, 2025
Feb 25, 2025
Press Releases
- Amphenol Printed Circuits Brings Its Boards to the 2025 IMSI
- AGS Devices Licenses and Co-Brands CELUS Design Platform to Enable Faster Product Development and Sourcing
- Duro Launches Technology Partner Program to Deliver Complete Digital Thread for Hardware Engineering
- TTM Technologies, Inc. Announces Retirement of Founder and Board Member, Kent Alder
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