The 42nd InterNepcon Japan, Asia’s largest exhibition and conference for electronics, was held at the Tokyo Big Sight Jan, 16 to 19. The show attracted more than a thousand companies and organizations, and truly makes the show the largest gathering for the electronics packaging industry in the world.

InterNepcon consists of the following shows:

3rd Micro Fabrication/ Fine Process Technology Expo
30th ElectoTest, 14th Printed Wiring Board Expo
14th IC Packaging Technology Expo
4th Advanced Electronic Materials Expo
14th Electronic Components Expo
1st Automotive IT Expo
5th Int’l Automotive Electronics Technology Expo
4th EV & HEV Drive System Technology Expo
3rd Automotive Weight Reduction Expo
1st Tokyo Design lighting Expo & Conference
5th LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo
3rd LED/OLED Light Expo were also held together

The electronics industry in Japan continues to struggle and remains in a slump. The show offered an opportunity to discover new business opportunities and review some technology trends for the industry. The only drawback had to do with the size and scope of the show. The exhibition was so large that it was almost impossible for me to really explore all the events in three days. I had to prioritize my list and skip a few of them.

The early morning of the first day was the least busy. Later that day, visitors began to flock into the show, and the aisles were bustling with business men in suits and ties. Most in attendance were from Japan. Unlike previous years, there weren’t too many visitors from other countries.

The most popular topics of conversation at the show swirled around electronic packaging for smartphones and tablet PCs. The conversation was popular, but the exhibitors had little interest in showcasing anything to do with mobile electronics.  It is understandable because the consumer electronic market in Japan continues to shrink year over year.

Many major circuit board manufacturers and IC substrate manufacturers that were at last year’s show didn’t bother to reserve space this year. Their replacements were new circuit manufacturers with specialized technologies that could take pages and pages to describe.

Laminate and chemical suppliers for printed circuit manufacturing were well represented at the show; they secured a large amount of space and displayed new technologies and products.

I was a bit disappointed that I did not discover any new innovations or technologies. I did find many new vendors for specialty circuits ... that’s about it.

There was a lot of buzz surrounding the automobile and lighting shows. The popularity of these two shows leads me to believe that a lot of potential business could be generated from these segments. The common buzzwords are energy saving, efficiency and compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). The staff working the booths in the automotive and lighting sections talked about their new technologies optimizing the efficiencies of materials and energies. Most of the automobile zones were occupied by domestic companies, while those in the lighting zone were represented by foreign companies. Unfortunately, there were too many companies and new technologies, and I did not have enough time to review everything in these zones.

I always enjoy myself at this show, and look forward to attending InterNepcon Japan 2014.

Dominique K. Numakura, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DKN Research, www.dknresearchllc.com

Headlines of the week (Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information of the news.)

1. NSSCC (Copper laminate supplier for flex circuits in Japan) agreed to a marketing JV with Chinese laminate manufacturer Shengyi Technology for the China and Hong Kong markets.
2. Showa Denko (major chemical company in Japan) codeveloped a new manufacturing process of graphene from thin graphite with Tohoku University.
3. Nihon Superior (major soldering material supplier in Japan) commercialized a new nano silver paste “Alco-Nano” for electrode generation of solar cells.
4. Sharp (major electronics company in Japan) developed a new large capacity lithium ion battery “JH-WB1201/1202” for home use.
5. Nippon Electric Glass (major glass product supplier in Japan) demonstrated a roll shape thin glass sheet coated with ITO conductive layer assuming RTR production of large area flexible OLED light sources.
6. Tokyo Gas (major gas supplier in Japan) codeveloped a low-cost fuel cell power source module with Panasonic for home use. The sales price is lower than two million yen.
7. Innolux (major display panel manufacturer in Taiwan) plans to invest 5 billion NT$ for R&D and automation in Taiwan targeting tablet PCs. It will create 4500 new jobs.
8. Panasonic (major electronics company in Japan) will roll out a new 7” tablet PC “ToughPad JT-B1.” It passed 1.5 meter drop test and MIL-STD-810G vibration test.
9. Epson (major electronics company in Japan) commercialized a new large size (A3 plus) flat bed scanner “ES-G11000” with high resolution (2400dpi).
10. Mitsubishi Electric (major electric & electronics company in Japan) will roll out new 8.4” & 10.6” reliable LCD panels with touch screen for industry and business use. 

DKN Research Newsletter #1301, Jan. 27, 2013 (English Edition)
Electronic Packaging Industry News from Japan & Asia

Please find the full articles at  www.dknresearchllc.com/DKNRArchive/Articles/Articles.html