It’s Only Common Sense: Marketing Isn’t Fluff, It’s Ammunition
Driving Innovation: Mechanical and Optical Processes During Rigid-flex Production
The Chemical Connection: Onshoring PCB Production—Daunting but Certainly Possible
Global PCB Production’s High Growth in 2017; Up 14%
October 31, 2018 | IPCEstimated reading time: 1 minute
IPC’s World PCB Production Report for the Year 2017, published last week, shows how the global PCB industry achieved an estimated 13.9% real growth in 2017 – the fastest growth since the recovery year of 2010 – and what the industry’s global footprint looks like today. The report provides current estimates of PCB production value by country, region and product category, with commentary about industry trends and historical data.
According to the report, China’s share of world PCB production continued to grow in 2017, accounting for more than half of world production value. Production in Taiwan and Japan declined as percentages of world production in 2017 due to continued off-shore investment. The greatest growth in the proportion of world PCB production in 2017 was seen in Vietnam and Thailand. Growth in Thailand’s industry, coupled with the continuing decline in the U.S. industry share, caused Thailand to move ahead of the United States and become the fifth-largest PCB-producing country in 2017.
Despite its declining share, the value of U.S. PCB production grew an estimated 5.9% in real terms in 2017. Although just 3.9% of world PCB production is done in the United States, U.S.-based companies own 6.5% of global production. Despite evidence of a small on-shoring trend, most large U.S. companies still produce a substantial share of their PCBs outside the United States.
The World PCB Production Report is IPC's longest-running annual study, now in its 40th year. It is a definitive source of data on global PCB production, developed by a team of leading PCB industry analysts.
The new report is available for download in IPC's online store. Single-user prices are $475 for IPC members and $950 for non-members. Multi-user licenses are also available.
About IPC
IPC is a global industry association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 4,400 member-company sites which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $2 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Brussels, Belgium; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; Bangalore and New Delhi, India; Bangkok, Thailand; and Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Beijing, China.
For more information, click here.
Share on:
Testimonial
"In a year when every marketing dollar mattered, I chose to keep I-Connect007 in our 2025 plan. Their commitment to high-quality, insightful content aligns with Koh Young’s values and helps readers navigate a changing industry. "
Brent Fischthal - Koh YoungSuggested Items
Update: Technica USA Begins Exclusive U.S. Distributor for DCT Cleaning Products
11/03/2025 | Technica USATechnica USA is pleased to announce they have begun shipping product for DCT USA, LLC today. Technica recently announced a strategic partnership as the exclusive master distributor of DCT cleaning products in the United States, which became effective November 1, 2025.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
10/31/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Last week, the IMPACT conference took place in Taipei, bringing together advanced packaging experts from around the globe to share their knowledge. We’ll be bringing you post-conference coverage over the next few weeks, so look for that in our newsletters, and in the Advanced Electronic Packaging Digest. Other news seemed to have the U.S. at the center of the global discussions. My picks start in Phoenix, where TSMC, NVIDIA, and Amkor are all scrambling to establish new capabilities. There’s nothing like a strong demand signal to cause build-out, and AI chips are doing exactly that.
Real Time with... SMTAI 2025: Navigating Manufacturing Challenges with Akrometrix
11/03/2025 | Real Time with...SMTAIMarcy LaRont and Paul Handler of Aktrometrix share insights from the SMTAI show in Chicago. They address manufacturing challenges, particularly warpage issues, and discuss Akrometrix's solutions. Paul details three optical technologies for measuring warpage and thermal expansion, emphasizing the need for reliability and defect detection in production. The conversation also touches on new industry standards for board warpage, influenced by OEMs.
I-Connect007 Welcomes New Columnist: Leo Lambert, EPTAC
10/30/2025 | I-Connect007I-Connect007 is excited to announce a column by Leo Lambert, an industry veteran with 40 years of experience, an award winner, and technical director at EPTAC. This column, Learning With Leo, will explore the evolution and related challenges of electronics product assembly, especially as it relates to training.
Better Sustainability Policies for Electronics
10/29/2025 | Diana Radovan, Global Electronics AssociationI joined the Global Electronics Association in August 2025 as the director of sustainability policy. Since then, much has happened in terms of geopolitics and in the development and re-envisioning of sustainability policies in the industry. While the European Commission has released several legislative packages to simplify sustainability requirements (“omnibus”), these developments haven’t yet settled and are not in effect. Given the many recent and ongoing public consultations, with often conflicting input from a broad range of stakeholders, final negotiations remain rather polarized among policymakers.