Electronics equipment to reach record sales

Major concerns ahead will be the rising energy costs and the prices in raw materials, Walter Custer announced during a special UP Media Group Webinar. At the webinar Walter Custer also announced that he forecast the the sales ratio of semiconductor to end-products could portend a modest slowdown over the rapid pace of the past few years. Semiconductor monthly shipments are up 10.5% worldwide year-over-year through August, said Custer, based on SIA data. PCB production totaled $42.6 billion in 2005, with Japan taking 24.5% of the pie and China next at 23.6%, followed by Taiwan (14%), North America (11.1%) and Europe (8.4%), Walter Custer said.