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European PCB market more stable than others
The European PCB market was more stable than other markets in 2008. The market volume in Europe decreased by 0.8% to $6.15 billion, while the American market declined in the same period by 5.6% to $5.9 billion.
The current situation of PCB suppliers is characterized by high production costs and massive demands by customers for lower prices. Standard PCBs are being imported to an increasing extent from the Far East. The key to the future of the European and American PCB industry is system integration, according to IPC. Even though the automobile sector is currently suffering heavy setbacks, it is regarded as a future market for innovative PCBs because high-performance electronics will become much more important there. Between 60 and 100 PCBs are now installed in automobiles – and the trend is still upward. A pronounced boost is expected here in the next 10 to 20 years, especially on account of additional electronics for energy management and primarily for hybrid and electric automobiles.
That also applies to the areas of regenerative energies and energy efficiency where double-digit growth rates are expected in photovoltaics for example. In particular, PCBs for high-performance electronics can profit from this. The increase in current carrying capacity is one of the main development areas in this respect.
Image source: Alba
