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Nevertheless, we have to keep on going or else we will have a proper competitor who has a strong presence. When I come to the show and look at the new technology, it's kind of interesting to see the copied machines too. They are improving in their own ways. It is okay; it's kind of fun to see it nowadays. We have gone through the depression part.
Matties: It is what it is. Embrace it and play your game, don't worry about theirs. That's the right strategy, I think.
Fujita: At this HKPCA show, there are a couple of interesting machines from our competitors, so that was good to see. We just released a new machine ourselves, the F2S3325, which has our next generation testing ranges, etc., but we need to go much further because our competitors are there too. We need to add more value so that customers will be more comfortable purchasing our machine.
Matties: If we talk about the testing process, what sort of demands are the customers putting on you for meeting their testing requirements and carrying them into the future? Have they changed much over the years?
Fujita: The boards are becoming finer. Obviously, the line and space has become narrower and narrower. With so many thin boards, the customer requires less damage and a higher accuracy range, and more preciseness is required for the high-end market. Speed is generally required for the medium range, but more of the demand is set by the high-end customers who really require the next generation technology. Their product is going in the next generation of smartphones and they have to keep up with designing a better one. As a result, we do have to keep up with the high-end customers or else we will definitely lose our brand value. That is why you can see Hioki and our competitors having similar products. That is basically due to the customers’ demand, and that is the biggest demand in the PCB market at this moment.
Matties: How do you see the 2016 market shaping up?
Fujita: It's kind of difficult to say. With the shift change from rigid to flexible in terms of the smartphone, you can see the strengths and weaknesses of a lot of companies much more prominently. One shift in the technology and it affects a lot of companies. Smartphones are big, but they are at the peak right now. We see 2016 to be on the gradually descending side. Besides the actual smartphones, I think it is more the server and communication infrastructure side of the market that will grow in 2016, especially in China, with that population. On the whole for the PCB market, I do think it will stay at a high standard, but more or less we’ll start to see a gradual descent.
Matties: Thank you so much for spending time with us.
Fujita: Thank you.
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