I-Connect007 Survey Details Concerns About Future of Industry

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I-Connect007 continues to monitor the current worldwide economic situation by seeking input from our market leaders. Here’s what we discovered: If you’re feeling the pressure, you’re not alone.

In a recent survey, we asked about your primary concerns for the future of our industry. The number one concern (26%) indicated a belief that sales will be affected negatively in the coming months.

That was followed closely by primary concerns about supply chain in the electronics market (17%), the ability to retain quality employees in our worldwide industry (10%), and the spreading of COVID-19 (10%).

While survey respondents were less worried about cybersecurity (2%), new equipment (5%), China (3%) and smart factories (5%), about 20% of respondents shared other primary concerns, among them:

• “Not enough new design talent coming into the PCB industry”
• “Offshore competition”
• “Government driving up energy costs”
• “Product liability”
• “Keeping design under designers and not merging with engineers”
• “Miniaturization”
• “That there will be a future”
• “Earning enough margin to afford to hire top talent and keep current on the best CAD tools”

Check back for the latest on the COVID-19 outbreak and its effect on the electronics industry.

• Industry Leaders Speak Out: Responses to COVID-19 Outbreak. 
• Check out IPC's latest COVID-19 updates.

10/16/2020 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007

Trade shows and technical conferences haven’t died; they’ve just moved online. The trade show season continues in virtual full force this week, and event coverage dominates the top five this week. Surprisingly, I don’t see events as this week’s theme. No, this week’s theme is “pundits.” We have Walt Custer’s industry outlook, seven experts on additive electronics, a designers conference keynote, and the IPC’s government relations expert. Don’t get me wrong: These folks are asked to speak to the industry for a good reason. They know their subject matter, and they present it skillfully. This week’s top five picks are worth reading.

10/12/2020 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007

“We’re not out of trouble yet, but it’s a whole lot better than a couple of months ago.” Walt Custer’s business outlook update, with emphasis on the European electronics industry, attracted a capacity audience to EIPC’s webinar on October 2. Pete Starkey details how it wasn’t all bad news.

10/05/2020 | I-Connect007 Editorial Team

We asked for you to send in your questions for IPC President and CEO John Mitchell, and you took us up on it! We know you all enjoyed reading these questions and answers, so we’ve compiled all of them into one article for easy reference. We hope you enjoy having another bite at the apple. And if you’d like to hear more from John Mitchell, view his column series “One World, One Industry.”