Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine

NEWS

SEMI Forecasts Mixed Semiconductor Outlook

20 May 2025

MILPITAS, CA – The global semiconductor industry followed traditional seasonal trends in the first quarter, but uncertainty surrounding new tariffs is expected ... Read More...

AT&S Grows Revenue Amid Industry Headwinds

16 May 2025

LEOBEN – AT S reported revenue of $1.72 billion for the year, up from $1.68 billion from the prior year, despite continued global pricing pressure and weak indu... Read More...

Taiwan’s PCB Industry to Grow 6% to $40B in 2025

16 May 2025

TAIWAN – Taiwan’s PCB industry is projected to reach $39.9 billion this year, growing 5.8% year-over-year, according to a joint report by the Taiwan Printed Cir... Read More...

PCB East 2025 Basks in Higher Attendance, Conference Plaudits

16 May 2025

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – Attendance for the PCB East (https://www.pcbeast.com) 2025 exhibits rose nearly 4% year-over-year, the Printed Circuit Engineering Associat... Read More...

Epec Acquires Roca Printed Circuits

15 May 2025

DALLAS – Epec Engineered Technologies' NetVia Group division has acquired Roca Printed Circuits, a move aimed at enhancing both companies’ printed circuit board... Read More...

TechSearch Warns of Substrate Shortage by 2029

15 May 2025

AUSTIN, TX – A supply shortage of build-up substrates is looming, starting in 2029, with tight conditions emerging as early as 2028, according to a new report f... Read More...

ICAPE Reports Revenue Up 13% YoY

13 May 2025

FONTENAY-AUX-ROSES, FRANCE – ICAPE Group posted first quarter revenue of $54.9 million, a 13% increase from the same period last year. Read More...

MKS Breaks Ground on $40M Thailand Facility

08 May 2025

ANDOVER, MA – MKS Instruments has begun construction on a $40 million chemical manufacturing facility and technical center near Bangkok. Read More...

CELUS Integrates AI Design Platform with Cadence OrCAD X

06 May 2025

AUSTIN, TX – CELUS has announced the integration of its AI-assisted electronics design platform with Cadence’s OrCAD X software. The move aims to streamline PCB... Read More...

Global Semiconductor Sales Jump 18.8%

05 May 2025

WASHINGTON – Semiconductor sales of $167.7 billion in the first quarter, up 18.8% from the same time the previous year, but down 2.8% from the previous quarter,... Read More...

'Crippling' Tariffs Crush Sales Sentiment in April, ECIA Says

02 May 2025

ATLANTA -- Calling the tariffs levied by the US and China "crippling," the Electronic Components Industry Association said sales sentiment plummeted i... Read More...

Siemens to Acquire Wevolver; Steve Flagg and Bram Geenen Comment

01 May 2025

MUNICH – Siemens Digital Industries Software announced its intent to acquire Wevolver, a move that will enhance its previous acquisition of Supplyframe platform... Read More...

Nano Dimension Cuts Costs, Sets Strategic Focus Following 2024 Transformation

01 May 2025

WALTHAM, MA – Nano Dimension reported full-year 2024 revenue of $57.8 million, up 3% year-over-year, and a net loss of $96.9 million, primarily due to the reval... Read More...

TTM Technologies Reports 14% Revenue Growth

01 May 2025

SANTA ANA, CA – TTM Technologies reported a revenue of $648.7 million, up 14% from the same period last year. Read More...

PCB East 2025 Conference Opens Today

29 April 2025

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – The annual PCB East (https://www.pcbeast.com) conference, featuring more than 75 hours of in-depth electronics engineering training, opens ... Read More...

FEATURES

Component Land Patterns: A Primer

A manufacturer’s perspective on determining parts layout. A land pattern refers to the footprint or layout of surface-mount components on a printed circuit boa... Read More...

For Design Tools, Another Record. Can It Last?

If a recession is indeed ahead, Wally Rhines thinks the PCB design software industry is a “great place to hide.” The figure tells the story: sales of printed c... Read More...

Are You Using Too Many Vias?

Conventional wisdom regarding via count is wrong. Here’s the proof. Conventional wisdom has suggested: The cross-sectional area of a via should have at least ... Read More...

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...

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...