Flexible Thinking: The Key to a Successful Flex Circuit Design Transfer
Happy’s Tech Talk #29: Bend-to-Install Semi-flex FR-4
14th Electronic Circuits World Convention
June 20, 2017 | Happy HoldenEstimated reading time: 10 minutes
Figure 3: World electronic equipment monthly shipments, converted at fluctuating exchange rates. (Source: Custer Consulting Group.)
Figure 4 shows the IC end-use markets and growth rates to 2020. Self-driving cars may reach 10 million by 2020. The 5G telecom market is expected to grow to $250B by 2015. This will start with Korea Telecom using 5G for the 2018 Winter Olympics. IoT has $16B worth of installed devices in 2016, and this is expected to grow to $200B by 2023, with nearly 75 billion devices connected by 2020. In the same vein, Figure 5 shows the estimates of wearable devices from 2015 to 2017, in millions. In 2016, there were 17,600 robots in factories (most related to automobiles), 5,100 in electronics assembly and 1,900 in metal fab/foundries. The growth of PCBs is less certain due to the need for more integrated packaging strategies between the chips and the board.
Figure 4: IC end-use systems markets ($B) and growth rates. (Source: IC Insights 12/16.)
Page 2 of 6
Share on:
Suggested Items
Connect the Dots: Stop Killing Your Yield—The Hidden Cost of Design Oversights
04/03/2025 | Matt Stevenson -- Column: Connect the DotsI’ve been in this industry long enough to recognize red flags in PCB designs. When designers send over PCBs that look great on the computer screen but have hidden flaws, it can lead to manufacturing problems. I have seen this happen too often: manufacturing delays, yield losses, and designers asking, “Why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?” Here’s the thing: Minor design improvements can greatly impact manufacturing yield, and design oversights can lead to expensive bottlenecks. Here’s how to find the hidden flaws in a design and avoid disaster.
Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2025: Tariffs and Supply Chains in U.S. Electronics Manufacturing
04/01/2025 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOChris Mitchell, VP of Global Government Relations for IPC, discusses IPC's concerns about tariffs on copper and their impact on U.S. electronics manufacturing. He emphasizes the complexity of supply chains and the need for policymakers to understand their effects.
The Chemical Connection: Surface Finishes for PCBs
03/31/2025 | Don Ball -- Column: The Chemical ConnectionWriting about surface finishes brings a feeling of nostalgia. You see, one of my first jobs in the industry was providing technical support for surface cleaning processes and finishes to enhance dry film adhesion to copper surfaces. I’d like to take this opportunity to revisit the basics, indulge in my nostalgia, and perhaps provide some insight into why we do things the way we do them in the here and now.
NUS Physicists Discover a Copper-free High-temperature Superconducting Oxide
03/28/2025 | PRNewswireProfessor Ariando and Dr Stephen Lin Er Chow from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Physics have designed and synthesised a groundbreaking new material—a copper-free superconducting oxide—capable of superconducting at approximately 40 Kelvin (K), or about minus 233 degrees Celsius (deg C), under ambient pressure.
AT&S Sets New Standards in the Recycling of Copper and Chemicals
03/25/2025 | AT&SAT&S has been working for years to reduce the ecological footprint of its production sites worldwide with a comprehensive sustainability strategy and considerable investments.