Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Singapore to Host Globaltronics in Sept.

Globaltronics, Asia's longest established electronics manufacturing exhibition and conference, will be held again in Singapore from Sept. 7-10. The conference has expanded in scope to cover the four key trends and drivers for the electronics manufacturing industry - wireless, displays, miniaturisation and semiconductor.

32% of research participants, which included buyers and sellers from the electronics manufacturing industry, indicated a preference for Singapore if they were to attend only one major show per year. Singapore's votes were higher than China (18%) and almost three times the votes for Taiwan (11%).

Ng Chuan Yong, vice president, Reed Exhibitions Pte. Ltd., said, "Singapore continues to be an industry hub, known for its quality and high-end manufacturing capabilities. In addition, countries in Southeast Asia are known for being technology savvy and many electronics players leverage the presence of early technology adopters within these markets to test products before global rollout. Singapore is well connected to the whole region to take advantage of this."

Singapore currently manufactures 50% of the world's hard disk drives and has more than 15 established wafer fabrication plants and 30 integrated circuit design houses.

Ng added, "Our research shows that electronics continues to be a significant contributor to the region's GDP. Prior to 2002 and 2003, there were concerns of a migration of electronics manufacturing to China. However, confidence in the region was shaken following SARS and the various bird-flu outbreaks, which had the effect of reminding companies of the old adage ‘not to put all your eggs in the same basket,' and the result has seen the emergence of companies adopting a dual-hub manufacturing strategy."

New to Globaltronics is DESIGNtech Asia, a platform featuring electronic design automation tools and methodologies and design software. It was created to cater to the growing Asia Pacific electronic design automation market (EDM), which is worth $363 million and has grown 23% and 10% in 2002 and 2003 respectively.

Other additions to the exhibition include OPTOelectronics Asia, a showcase of photonics related to the electronics industry; an innovation gallery featuring nanotechnology and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); and a Contract Manufacturers Hall of Fame, a display of Asia contract manufacturers' capabilities.

Activities such as the technology conference, senior executives summit and e-supply chain conference will continue to be features of this year's GlobalTRONICS.

www.globaltronics.com.sg