Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine

NEWS

Top 50 EMS Companies Grew 13% in 2024

18 April 2025

NEVADA CITY, CA – Revenue at the 50 largest electronics manufacturing services companies grew 12.7% in 2024, totaling $477 billion and reversing a historic 2023... Read More...

SVI, CCTC Partner on PCB Fabrication JV in Thailand

17 April 2025

BANG KADI, PATHUM THANI, THAILAND -- SVI Public Co. and China Circuit Technology (Shantou) have agreed to a joint venture here where the two companies will buil... Read More...

Smartphone Shipments Rise 1.5% in Q1 2025 Amid Trade Uncertainty

17 April 2025

NEEDHAM, MA - Global smartphone shipments rose 1.5% year-over-year to 304.9 million units in the first quarter, according to preliminary data from IDC. The indu... Read More...

CB Tech Acquires Reliable Circuits to Boost Manufacturing Capabilities

17 April 2025

LAS VEGAS – CB Tech has acquired Phoenix-based Reliable Circuits, expanding its inhouse capabilities to include advanced circuit board design, production, and a... Read More...

Rick Hartley Joins Lineup of Speakers for Free Sessions at PCB East 2025

16 April 2025

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – April 16, 2025 – Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA (https://pcea.net)) announced today that Rick Hartley will be joining the li... Read More...

PCB Design Software Sales Rose 16% YoY in Q4, ESD Alliance Reports

13 April 2025

MILPITAS, CA — Quarterly sales of printed circuit board and multichip module design software jumped 15.9% in the December period to $476 million, the ESD Allian... Read More...

Firan Technology Group Sees 23% Revenue Jump, Net Earnings Triple in Q1

11 April 2025

TORONTO – Firan Technology Group posted first-quarter revenue of C$42.9 million ($31.8 million), up 23% from the previous year. Adjusted net earnings rose 214%... Read More...

Semiconductor Equipment Market Hits $117B in 2024 on China Surge, AI Demand

10 April 2025

MILPITAS, CA – Global semiconductor equipment sales rose 10% in 2024 to $117.1 billion, setting a new high, according to SEMI’s latest report. Growth was led by... Read More...

PC Shipments Rise in Q1, but Tariff Concerns Cloud Outlook for 2025

10 April 2025

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Global PC shipments reached 63.2 million units in the first quarter, a 4.9% increase year-over-year, according to IDC. Growth was fueled by str... Read More...

Siemens' EDA Group Acquires DownStream Technologies

08 April 2025

MARLBOROUGH, MA -- Siemens Digital Industries Software announced today that it has completed the acquisition of DownStream Technologies, a provider of manufactu... Read More...

Global Semiconductor Sales Set February Record

04 April 2025

WASHINGTON - Worldwide semiconductor sales reached a record $54.9 billion in February, a 17.1% increase from $46.9 billion a year ago, according to the Semicond... Read More...

Electronics Component Sales Sentiment Holds Steady in March, Slight Dip Expected for April

03 April 2025

ATLANTA-- Sales sentiment for electronic components remained stable in March, with the Electronic Component Sales Trend (ECST) index declining 0.7 points sequen... Read More...

Electronics Demand Hits Year-High in March, IPC Reports

03 April 2025

BANNOCKBURN, IL - Electronics demand in March reached its highest level in nearly a year, with strong manufacturing activity and rising shipments, according to ... Read More...

Electronics Demand Hits Year-High in March, IPC Reports

03 April 2025

BANNOCKBURN, IL - Electronics demand in March reached its highest level in nearly a year, with strong manufacturing activity and rising shipments, according to ... Read More...

Upcoming PCEA PCB Design Training Class for May

02 April 2025

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – PCEA Training (https://pceatraining.net) is offering a five-day Certified Professional Circuit Designer (CPCD) training and certification c... Read More...

FEATURES

What is the Best Material for a High-Speed PCB?

Consider return loss and insertion loss – but don’t stop there. Material selection for high-speed printed circuit board design (http://www.PCBwest.com) is one ... Read More...

Sequential Lamination in PCB Manufacturing

Higher layer count boards with mechanically drilled blind or buried vias may be built separately, then laminated together. Sequential lamination is a fundament... Read More...

Characterizing Etchback and Dielectric Loss Tangent

Fabrication-aware simulations to aid PCB design success. As engineers design printed circuit boards (PCBs) to operate at higher data rates, the system’s signal... Read More...

The Via-in-Pad and Wrap Plating Process

How and why to achieve higher-density placement and routing. PCB pin count and interconnect densities are increasing almost daily. Due to the associated high f... Read More...

Controlled Impedance on High-Speed Flex PCBs

Front-end analysis can help estimate the proper hatch opening – if any – for a flex PCB. Flex PCB and rigid-flex PCB designers are aware of the typical lack of... Read More...

NIST 800-171 Compliance

Are your PCB supplier’s security measures up to par? In today’s interconnected digital landscape, safeguarding sensitive information is not just a priority – i... Read More...

Can Thailand Pad its PCB Gains?

2023 saw only a handful of fabricators gain ground, but SE Asia is primed to boom. Small it was, but the Thailand Electronics Circuit Asia exhibition held in B... Read More...

Fundamentals of Signal Integrity at Various Frequencies

Tips and tricks for applications of all speeds, from 1MHz to gigabit level. How do you know a high-speed design application from an ordinary one? What qualifie... Read More...

Young Guns: The 2024 Designers Salary Survey

The annual snapshot of the industry finds the PCB design workforce is – at last – skewing younger. Is the PCB design workforce finally getting younger? After y... Read More...

PCB Design. No Humans Required.

An electronics startup is developing AI-driven design software that lessens manual intervention. The role of artificial intelligence in PCB design is a growing... Read More...

AI: The Shiny New Tool in the Engineer's Toolbox

Searching for components and automating schematic capture are just two of the ways AI will be implemented in PCB design. During the past 10 years, artificial i... Read More...

‘Everybody is Growing’

The East Coast trade show brings news of a steady industry, while puncturing myths about AI. Members of the electronics community gathered in the Boston suburb... Read More...

Measuring Quality Over Time

Using the Weibull distribution to model gold wire bonding on ENEPIG. The most used distribution in reliability analysis may be the Weibull distribution. Its ge... Read More...

How the PCB Stackup Helps Control EMI

Power and signal placed on outer layers minimize radiated emissions. The PCB stackup is like a building's foundation; a product not built on a strong base will... Read More...

Exploring the Impact of AI

A special panel discusses the growth of AI tools and its possible effects on the industry. “Will AI take my job?” That’s the question on the mind of many arou... Read More...