The world’s largest electronics show for Electronics Packaging, Circuits and Assembling (the JPCA Show) was held at Tokyo Big Sight from June 5 through June 7. The following shows were held concurrently in the convention center: Large Electronics Show 2013, JIEP 2013 (Microelectronics Show), Jisso Protech 2013 and Monotsukuri Fiesta 2013. The electronics industry in Japan is suffering its worst slump in history. I was hoping to see some new and innovative products at the show to snap us out of this funk.
Attendance was low on the first day; however, things picked up on the following day. The official number of guests for the three day show was over 120,000 -- slightly larger than last year. The visitors all had on their game faces. Many traveled from North America, Europe Taiwan and Korea.
The floor size of the exhibition was almost the same as last year, but the players were very different. Circuit board manufacturers that reserved space last year did not show up. There were many new companies from Taiwan, China and Korea. There were a lot of material suppliers from Korea scattered throughout the show. The Academic plaza was made up by more than 60 small booths from universities and local institutes. The exhibitors, mostly young researchers and students, showcased their products. The teardown analysis was the most popular display.
More than 20 seminars were featured at this years show. Since most of them were free, prepared seats were not enough for the audiences. The seminar held at center stage featured the New Product Introduction (NPI) and technical seminar and was sold out.
So, who was the belle at the ball? Embedded component is still the most significant topic of discussion for circuit board manufacturers. Many material suppliers were talking about low-loss dielectric, assuming large applications with high-speed devices, and equipment suppliers and circuit board manufacturers featured their direct imaging machines. The printable electronics seminars and booths were very popular.
The convention was a great place to network and share market information. Most of us agreed that the circuit board industry in Japan is continuing its decline and has not reached the bottom. Since the electronics industry remains stagnant, the traditional circuit board business in Japan cannot grow. The main purpose to attend this show was to find new avenues for business. I believe the JPCA Show 2013 could be a lighting rod for some companies. I am extremely optimistic about the future; it only takes a spark to create a fire.
Dominique K. Numakura, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., DKN Research
DKN Research Newsletter
#1316, June 16th, 2013 (English Edition) Electronic Packaging Industry News from Japan & Asia
(www.dknresearchllc.com)
Headlines of the week
1. DNP (major printing company in Japan) 5/31 developed a next generation thin flexible poster with e-paper technology for large size public display.
2. Showa Denko (Major chemical company in Japan) developed a new chlorine-free epoxy compound for conductive adhesives. It will reduce migration problems significantly.
3. Rohm unveiled a new fuel cell module “High Power Aqua” as back-up power source for emergency.
4. RIKEN (R&D organization in Japan) developed a new coating process of semiconductor polymer. It will make the efficiencies of the organic photovoltaic cell devices extremely higher.
5. Showa Denko developed a printing process with microwave heating for thick film printed circuits using silver/carbon hybrid ink.
6. Mitsubishi Electric will commercialize a new NC drilling machine “ML605GTW4-UV” with UV-YAG laser for high performance flexible circuits.
7. AIST (R&D organization in Japan) has developed a new build-up process with multi-crystal germanium for the 3D construction of CMOS devices.
8. NEDO (R&D organization in Japan) has developed a new logic IC concept with new transistor. The new device works at 0.37 V, therefore the power consumption will be reduced to one tenth.
9. Fuji Film (major camera and film supplier in Japan) co-developed a new high performance organic CMOS image sensor with Panasonic introducing an organic thin film technology.
10. Zeon (major supplier of specialty chemicals in Japan) has made a capacity expansion plan of di-cyclopentadiene as the monomer of transparent thermo plastic polymers for optical devices.
Please find the full articles at dknresearchllc.com/DKNRArchive/Articles/Articles.html
