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EPTE Newsletter from Japan: NEPCON World 2009, Part I

One of the major conventions for electronic packaging and assembling was held at the Tokyo Big Sight for three days beginning January 28, 2009. The show had a name change this year and is now called NEPCON World. Each year, the exhibition grows larger and larger and continuously adds new events. The huge floors of the East and West Hall were fully occupied with more than 1,200 exhibitors. 

INTERNEPCON Japan is still the largest part of the huge exhibition, but the show occupies only one-third of the space. Two-thirds of the floor is reserved by Electro Test Japan, Laser & Optics, Printed Circuit Expo, Semiconductor Packaging Technology and Car Electronics Technologies. This year, more than 160 companies representing car electronics related devices were featured in a newly launched show at NEPCON World.

Before the doors opened, most of us were speculating on the number of visitors the show would attract during this economic slowdown. Unfortunately, the pessimistic views came to fruition. The crowd size that formed at the registration lines on the first day was similar to previous years. However, the lines dwindled within a half-hour, and staff at the registration counter was not very busy. I estimate the number of visitors during the first day was less than half compared to previous years. Visitors navigated from both to booth without fighting any crowds. The second and third days were much better, but there is no question that NEPCON World had fewer visitors than previous years due to the market recession.           

Another sign of a worldwide recession was the reduced number of foreign visitors--especially from Korea, Taiwan and China. In previous years, we could hear a lot of Korean and Chinese conversations from the tour groups originating from these countries. It was very quiet this year. Some blamed poor attendance on the Lunar New Year holidays that were celebrated during the same week as the show; however, this is not the reason. Korean and Taiwanese business men are savvy and ambitious, and would not let a holiday get in the way of hustling some business during the show. In previous years they would visit Japan for business and celebrate the holiday season while in the country. The real reason for the reduction was that most companies in these counties prohibited all overseas trips because of a downturn in business.       

During a tour of the exhibition, I observed many resting and meeting areas between booths. I counted more than fifty, and could not remember seeing them last year, and thought it odd that this prime display space was used for nothing. Then, I realized these empty spaces were cancellations from companies who reserved booths last year. The companies who face serious financial difficulties canceled their reservations and forfeited their down payments. Several companies did not cancel their reservations, but sent no display materials or personnel to work the booths. There were only name tags at these locations.          

Next week's newsletter will detail additional observations from the show. 

Dominique K. Numakura

DKN Research, www.dknresearch.com

Headlines of the Week

(Please contact haverhill@dknreseach.com for further information on the news.)

1. Sanyo Electric (Major electronics company in Japan) 1/23
The company has formed a new joint venture, Sanyo ENEOS Solar, with Nihon Petroleum for the manufacturing of thin film type solar cells.

2. Furukawa Electric (Major cable supplier in Japan) 1/26
The supplier has developed a new green color laser (532 nm) utilizing a fiber laser as the light source.

3. JSR (Major electronic material supplier in Japan) 1/26
The supplier announced that, for the first nine months of the 2008 fiscal year (April to December), revenue declined 3.7% to 294 billion yen; profit declined 33.3% to 19 billion yen.

4. Rohm (Major component supplier in Japan) 1/27
The supplier has installed its own white LED to light its reception lobby instead of traditional lighting devices.

5. Fujitsu (Major electronics company in Japan) 1/27
The company will terminate its head module business of hard disc drives by the end of March 2009.  Approximately 360 employees will move to other divisions.

6. Komatsu (Device manufacturer in Japan) 1/27
The manufacturer has developed a new thermo/electric transfer module with high efficiency (7.2%) with Bi/Te alloys. It is 50% higher than current devices.

7. NEC Tokin (Major component supplier in Japan) 1/27
The supplier will close three plants in Japan. Approximately 9,450 of the company's 19,000 employees will be let go.

8. CIPA (Industry organization of cameras in Japan) 1/27
The organization expects minus growth (-0.7%) for digital cameras in 2009. Positive growth will return in 2010.

9. Tokyo Instrument (Laser equipment supplier in Japan) 1/28
The supplier has rolled out a new white fiber laser. The laser can produce eight colors at the same time.

10. DNP (Major printing company in Japan) 1/28
The company has reduced the thickness of embedded passive multi-layer boards 30% to 0.45 mm. DNP will begin shipping samples in February.

11. DNP (Major printing company in Japan) 1/28
The company has developed the world thinnest lead frame (0.15 mm thick) targeting 300 million yen revenue in 2009.

12. Hitachi (Major electronics and electric company in Japan) 1/28
The company has developed a new termination system with lead-free soldering for power devices used at high temperatures.

13. Fukuda Metal (Major metal product supplier in Japan) 1/28
The supplier has rolled out an ultra-thin copper foil (6 microns) without career tape for fine line printed circuits.

14. Sumitomo Bakelite (Major PWB material supplier in Japan) 1/28
The supplier has commercialized a white circuit board material "Sumi Light BL alpha- 4325" as a substrate of LED modules.

15. OK Print (Printed circuit supplier in Japan) 1/29
The supplier has commercialized a new multi-layer board series with embedded passives for automobile applications.

Interesting Literature Concerning the Packaging Industry

Articles from DKN Research

1. "Screen Printing for High-Density Flexible Electronics," Robert Turunen, Masafumi Nakayama and Dominique Numakura, Printed Circuit FAB, October, 2007, http://pcdandm.com/cms/content/view/3846/95/. 

2. "Total Process Solution for the High-Density Multi-layer Flexible Printable Electronic Circuits," Dominique Numakura, Denshi Zairyo, October, 2007 (Japanese only).

3. New "Roll to Roll Production of Flexible Circuits, Possibilities and Issues," Dominique Numakura, Joho Kiko, Tokyo, March, 2008 (Japanese only).

4. "Coombs' Printed Circuits Handbook, 6^th Edition, Part 15-Flexible Circuits," Dominique Numakura, McGraw Hill, New York, September, 2007.

5. New "Screen Printing Process for High Density Flexible Electronics," Robert Turunen, Dominique Numakura, Masafumi Nakayama and Hisayuki Kawasaki, IPC Printed Circuit Expo/APEX and the Designers Summit, April, 2008.

6. New "Global Flexible Circuit Industry, Market Trends and Technology Trends by Applications," Dominique Numakura, International Symposium of KPCA Show, April, 2008 (English PowerPoint file is available).

From the Major Industry Magazines

1. "Is Your Solder Mask Process Ready for the Fine Pitches?" Anders Ekman, CircuiTree, December, 2008.

2. "Eliminating Muda: One Company's Journey," Don Sivilotti, Circuits Assembly, January, 2009.

3. "Via Optimization for Speed," Cuong Nguyen, SMT, December, 2008.

4. "Making Sense of Laminate Dielectric Properties," Richard Pangier and Michael J. Gray, Printed Circuit Design & FAB, January, 2009.

5. "Collective Hybrid Bonding for 3D IC Stacks," Anne Jourdian, Bart Swinnen, Eric Beyne and Stefan Pargrieder, Advanced Packaging, November/December, 2008.