News
The Japanese electronics giant already
outsources production of cell
phones (to Flextronics), PS2 video game consoles (to Hon Hai) and laptop PCs (Asustek Computer). However,
the company performs most of its own manufacturing -- and even
produces its own screen printers, placement machines and AOI.
But earlier
this month Sony named Howard Stringer as its new CEO, signaling changes
may be coming. As an outsider, Stringer may be more likely to push for
outsourcing than his predecessors at Sony, a company notorious for a
"do-it-ourselves" approach.
ATLANTA — UP Media Group Inc.
today announced that the 14th annual PCB Design Conference West 2005
provided
over 55 industry-leading exhibitors with a targeted audience of
approximately 1,400 attendees.
The audience included corporate executives,
purchasing/procurement executives, design engineers and managers,
process engineers, PCB layout designers and others, who came to the
March 7-11 event, held at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center.
PCB Design Conference West is North America's largest annual design-oriented conference and exhibition for printed circuit board engineering, design and manufacture. This year's Silicon Valley-based venue provided attendees with an excellent setting for instruction, networking and face-to-face marketing opportunities.
The show received positive feedback from attendees and exhibitors.
"We are still on a high from PCB West 2005. It was a great two-day exhibition for us," said Randy Eager, CEO and cofounder of DesignAdvance Systems Inc. "We demonstrated our new user-assisted component placement product, and we were thrilled to generate a great deal of attendee interest and to capture many highly qualified leads."
"It was exciting to bring PCB West back to the Santa Clara Convention Center again after two years in San Jose," said UP Media Group President Pete Waddell. "Our attendees find the Santa Clara facility to be a convenient, central Silicon Valley location, and they like the free parking. This year's conference program was first-rate—over 35 technical courses focusing on today's toughest design challenges. And our two-day exhibition was equally successful, resulting in an excellent re-sign rate for PCB West 2006."
In addition to the exhibition and conference, several special events were well attended and received praise from those who participated. These include the PCB Technology Forum and Welcome Luncheon, the keynote address by Bartlett Manufacturing president Doug Bartlett on "The Future of the North American PCB Industry," the Opening Night Reception and Grand Giveaway of exhibitor-sponsored prizes valued at $200 or more, the French Quarter Masquerade Party, the PCB Top Gun competition and the PCB Design Peer Awards competition.
Several exhibitors announced or demonstrated new products and services at PCB West 2005. Those products and services are detailed in a press release posted in the "What's New" section on the www.pcbwest.com home page.
Dates for the 15th annual PCB West 2006 have been announced: March 27-31 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For more information, visit www.pcbwest.com.
UPMG's next trade show is the 10th annual PCB Design Conference East 2005, which will be held October 10-14 at the Expo Center of New Hampshire in Manchester, NH. For more information, visit www.pcbeast.com.
"The commodity memory business — dominated by DRAM and NAND flash — was the one device sector immune from soft supply conditions in 2004," said Jeremey Donovan, vice president for Gartner's worldwide semiconductor group. "In terms of vertical markets, wireless and digital consumer electronics were star performers once again."
Intel remained the No. 1 vendor based on worldwide semiconductor revenue for the 13th consecutive year. Intel continued a highly visible push into new markets, most notably into digital cellular and wireless LAN ICs.
