The Plateau of the PCB industry 

Why the plateau? Because for our industry, there is no region that currently has either a marked advantage or disadvantage. All appear to be on a level, if quirky, playing field. When playing on a quirky field, it often can be mastered by changing how you play your game to take advantage of the inconsistency and all the questions that creates.

With so much contraction in North America, weaker players are gone: what remains are companies with expertise, technology, and tenacity. In Asia, especially China, cost are rising and employee turnover is increasing from already historic highs-factors that combined, raise serious questions regarding consistency and cost-effectiveness.

In short, the paradigm shift taking place for over a decade appears to have stalled, albeit temporarily, with the result that globally, all parties are in similar position of needing to take a deep breath, look around and either confirm or resist strategic direction.

The opportunity for all is to build on what they have done well, while addressing the perceived or real weakness experienced. For us in North America, where the perception is that the highest technology is not available and everything is too expensive, the challenge is to demonstrate how to cost effectively provide this technology. Asia, where first pass yield and quality are perceived to be less available than irrational pricing, the challenge is to demonstrate better quality and responsiveness. For those perceived to be limited by virtue of being “niche” or regionally focused, the challenge is to demonstrate ability to supply a variety of product across a wide geographic footprint.

It’s been a long time since the PCB industry has enjoyed such stability. Equally, we all have learned over the past decade that our market rewards those that are agile both strategically and tactically, and punishes those that remain inflexible.

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