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EPTE Newsletter from Japan: TPCA Show 2012

The Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) recently organized a three-day trade show, held at the World Trade Center in Taipei, Taiwan, October 24-26, 2012. The last TPCA Show I attended was in 2008, and the circuit board industry has changed drastically in that time. For some countries, the PCB business is good, and for others, well, not so good. Taiwanese manufacturers now have bragging rights over their Japanese counterparts as their revenue and volume have surpassed the once dominant leader in the world. If production in China was added to their bottom line, Taiwan would be the top PCB manufacturing country in the world. I was looking forward to finding out all the facts associated with the Taiwanese PCB industry at the TPCA Show. The floor size was smaller than the show I attended four years ago and there were fewer exhibitors. At previous shows, many Japanese equipment and material manufacturers were in attendance; most of them were absent from this year’s show. Taking their places were domestic manufacturers--mostly equipment manufacturers. Not many domestic material suppliers made the trip. A vendor that is very familiar with the industry explained to me that the Taiwanese PCB manufacturers are changing their material suppliers from those located in Japan to new ones in China or Taiwan. Japanese material suppliers currently have a very small share of market in Taiwan. With that said, he could not explain why there were not many Taiwanese or Chinese material vendors participating in the show.

Most Japanese companies in attendance did not reserve their own booths. Instead, they shared a booth with Taiwanese distributers. Conversely, many companies from Europe and Korea did reserve their own booths. These companies looked very committed and engaged as they competed with local vendors for business from the global PCB industry.

I did not find many rigid or flex circuit manufacturers at the exhibition. I did visit a couple of major PCB manufacturers, but their booths were relatively small and their displays were not very attractive. One of my business associates in Taiwan explained to me that most of the visitors were board engineers for manufacturers and did not want to unveil their latest technologies to the competition.

The exhibition itself looked more “trendy” compared to the exhibition held four years ago. The booths were more pleasing to the eye,and featured arranged flowers and electronic signs. Very attractive female models clad in skimpy outfits welcomed all the guests to their fashionable spaces. Large gift bags were given out to those who attended the private seminar hosted by the companies who reserved booths.

I was surprised to find that many publishing companies. including TPCA. were selling technical books related to PCBs. They covered a broad range of technologies from a basic introduction to a very advanced level. I was surprised how inexpensive these books were--most could be bought for fewer than US $20. Gaining knowledge through reading is relatively cheap these days.

I learned a many things while strolling around the show. However, one thing still baffles me: How can the Taiwanese PCB companies maintain their high growth rates while the PCB industries are struggling in almost every other country?                   

Dominique K. NumakuraDKN Research, www.dknresearch.com

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Headlines of the Week

1. Nikon (Major optical device manufacturer in Japan) 10/23 The manufacturer has commercialized a new pattern exposure system, “FX-67S,” with a resolution of 2 microns L/S for high-definition displays such as LCD and OLED.2. EPSON (Major device manufacturer in Japan) 10/24The manufacturer has agreed to a new R&D alliance with Merck in Germany to develop a new ink jet printing system for printable OLED.3. Hanwha Group (Major business group in Korea) 10/24The group has founded a new solar cell manufacturer, “Hanwha Q.CELLS,” based on G-Cells in Germany. The new company will be the third largest supplier in the industry.  4. Japan Display (Display manufacturer in Japan) 10/25The manufacturer has developed a new paper LCD panel that features a thin scattering layer on the surface. The new color display looks very natural.5. Kyocera (Major device manufacturer in Japan) 10/29The manufacturer has developed a new BTB connector series, “5870,” with 0.4-mm pitch and 0.7-mm height for the connections between high-density flex circuits and rigid boards.6. LG Display (Major display manufacturer in Korea) 10/29The manufacturer has become the largest display supplier for Apple. Apple will use LG’s displays for the new iPad mini, MacBook Pro, and iMac.7. Hitachi Cable & SMM (Major copper product suppliers in Japan) 10/29The suppliers have agreed to the creation of a new joint venture, “SH Material." All lead frame business will be transferred to the new company in 2013.8. EPSON (Major device manufacturer in Japan) 10/30The manufacturer has developed a new driver module, “S4E5B001B000A00,” for e-paper displays manufactured by E Ink in Taiwan.9. ITRI (R&D organization in Taiwan) 10/31The organization has unveiled new RTR manufacturing technologies for touch panel screens and IGZO TFT using thin, flexible substrates supplied by Corning.10. AUO (Major display manufacturer in Taiwan) 11/2The manufacturer plans to supply one to two million sets of ultra-high HD LCD panels in 2013 to flat panel TV manufacturers in Japan and China.Recent Articles from DKN Research

To view the complete list of DKN Research articles, click here.