ElPC Winter Conference

摘要

EIPC Chairman Alun Morgan welcomed the many international delegates to the Winter Conference which was held at The Ramada Hotel Alexanderplatz in Berlin at the end of January. His presentation showed how versatile much of the latest IT equipment is, and the diversity of applications of modern communications, not least of which is the new EIPC web site which has undergone a major re-design and contains a much greater amount of information. The keynote speaker is Dr Hayao Nakahara of NT Information Ltd He recalled speaking at the 1973 EIPC Winter Conference, which was when the world of the PCB industry was a very different place. Dr Nakahara confirmed that there had been a sudden and massive global shift in the geography of production. Most people think that China is now the biggest producer, but 43 per cent of production in China is with Taiwanese companies, and Europe now accounts for only 5.7 per cent of world production, worth some €2.5 billion. The USA has about $3 billion in domestic production while its overseas production was $3.2 billion in 2011. Domestic production will continue to oscillate in the vicinity of $3.0 billion per annum unless someone adds capacity, which is unlikely in any near future.