An Interview with Gene Weiner at HKPCA

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes

Matties: We're not going to know who the next president is for 2016 for a while, so we're stuck with what we have at the moment. So that's not going to change.

Weiner: And we may be stuck with what we get! [laughing]

Matties: We could be stuck with what we get, that’s for sure.

Weiner: I don't think we're going to see an economic shift that will benefit the United States. I think they're trying awfully hard over here in Asia to balance it. Germany is still strong but they’re being inundated with immigrants that are going to really hammer their economics. China is not getting the exports, so they have to control it here and increase domestic consumption, and they're fighting this whole environmental issue very heavily now. So all of these things are very exciting, like that Chinese expression, “May you live in interesting times.” And we definitely are.

Stephen Las Marias: Gene, for the past two days you've been walking around the HKPCA show. What can you say about the energy despite the economic challenge that's looming?

Weiner: I was absolutely surprised at the energy, the interest and the attendance of the first two days. There’s been a lot of interest and on the first day there were actually millions of dollars’ worth of orders being signed and closed. Business here has been off, and if you take out the few big leaders, business has been down 30–35% in some cases. So business has been hurting but the energy is good. There's still a reluctance to commit large dollars until we see what happens in the near future. There is also a huge number of copycats of digital imaging systems using the micro-mirror technologies here on the floor, probably more than a dozen companies.

But I had a good feeling at the end of the day. I feel it was ready to burst out, but nobody wanted to commit the dollars until they see where everything is going, with a few exceptions. Nonetheless, this has been the most energetic and active trade show in our industry that I've been to in maybe three years.

Las Marias: What about the innovation? Definitely there are a lot of copycats here, but are you also seeing a certain amount of innovation happening for local companies that might pose a threat or challenge?

Weiner: Yes, I see innovation both in the chemical process as well as in robotics and automation, and also improvement of existing technologies. The recently launched Orbotech Diamond™ 8 Digital Imaging system for solder masks appears to be a very innovative breakthrough especially when coupled with the newer photoimageable solder masks that take lower energy levels to expose.

I missed the last show where they launched the Nuvogo™ 1000 DI system for flexible soldermask applications, and that was the one I really wanted to the see. I was surprised to hear that Tamura perhaps now has the lead on the best soldermask for flexible circuits. Other companies such as Technic and Taiyo also say they have a photoimageable solder mask for flexible applications. But at this show, Tamura was the one about which people were talking.

There's so much to see and compare now even if you're not ready to buy until after the Chinese New Year in February, when we’ll hopefully be having better luck. You have to come here now to compare the new entries and the improvements so that when you do buy you know what decision to make.

Las Marias: What can you say about the future of the industry here in Asia?

Weiner: I think it is going to continue to grow much more and at a greater rate than anywhere else in the world.

Matties: What do you think about India?

Weiner: India doesn't have the infrastructure yet. India has the desire. It is a nation which is nearly as large as China. It has great mathematical capability, great technical capability, but has not had the infrastructure and has not yet been able to put in infrastructure in place except in a few cities where companies from the outside set up their own. It still has a fraction of a fraction of the percent for what's needed to build an electronic manufacturing business infrastructure commensurate with its population and consumable potential. I think a lot of it is because they followed the Russian model for too long before they switched to the current economic model. So for India, ask me that question in five years. I don't see much improvement before then.

Las Marias: I definitely will. Thank you very much.

Matties: Gene, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us today, it's always a pleasure.

Weiner: It's always fun, thank you.

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