I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

According to a quick look at history.com, “Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.” All well and good, but why April Fools’?

“People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” 

Ahhh, so that seems logical enough, doesn’t it? Some other cultures around the globe have also celebrated the vernal equinox with joyful, celebratory, or even “foolish” revelry. There’s a theme in general, but the April Fools’ we recognize today does seem to be thanks to the French.

History.com points out, finally, that, “In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools’ Day hoaxes. Newspapers, radio, and TV stations and websites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences.”

Much as I love a good-natured prank or a bit of silliness, I promise that there are no April Fools’ pranks in this week’s must-reads. So, enjoy this week’s most impactful news, and remember that glitter bomb packages look especially inviting to open.

IPC Issues Call for Participation for IPC APEX EXPO 2023 
Published March 29

IPC is now accepting abstracts for technical paper presentations, technical posters, and professional development courses for IPC APEX EXPO 2023. The technical conference will be held January 21-26, 2023, and professional development courses will take place January 24-26, 2023, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. Click through to the article for the details about how to make your contributions to the industry known.

AltiumLive 2022: Design for Availability 
Published March 28

Andy Shaughnessy spoke with Rodrigo Contreras Lopez of SnapEDA about Rodrigo’s AltiumLive presentation, which is now available online. It’s a changing world, he says, and designers need to approach their designs from a different perspective: Creating designs with parts that may or may not be available now may just set up your design team and your customer for failure in a few years. Is design for availability going to enter the PCB design lexicon?

Pincered by Russian-Ukrainian War and Inflation, DRAM Price Drop Forecast to Continue in 2Q22 by 0-5% 
Published March 28

According to TrendForce forecasts, average overall DRAM pricing in 2Q22 will drop by approximately 0~5%, due to marginally higher buyer and seller inventories coupled with the demand for products such as PCs, laptops, and smart phones being influenced in the short-term by the Russian-Ukrainian war and high inflation weakening consumer purchasing power. At present, the only remaining source of demand is on the server side, so overall DRAM stocks will remain oversupplied in 2Q22. 

North American EMS Industry Down 9.7% in February 
Published March 25

IPC announced the February 2022 findings from its North American Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.52. Total North American EMS shipments in February 2022 were down 9.7% compared to the same month last year. Compared to the preceding month, February shipments fell 0.3%. Is this typical for February, or is there more to worry about. Get the details from IPC.

IPC News: North American PCB Industry Sales Up 12.8% in February 
Published March 25

IPC announced the February 2022 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.16. Total North American PCB shipments in February 2022 were up 12.8% compared to the same month last year. Compared to the preceding month, February shipments rose 8.9%. What’s the story here?