Editor Ray Rasmussen takes a look back at 2011.

I’ve taken a look through our article archives and picked what I believe to be some of most interesting or important articles we’ve published over the last year. Not necessarily in order of importance, they provide a snapshot of the year’s highlights for the PCB industry, from my perspective.

Acts of God

At the top of my list were natural disasters. The two major events, which captured the attention of the entire world, were the earthquake in Japan, along with the subsequent Fukushima nuclear meltdown, and the floods in Thailand. Both illustrated vulnerability of our global supply chain with entire industries set back by critical components sole-sourced from these affected areas.

Japanese Earthquake Impacts Component Supply & Pricing

The Japan earthquake and tsunami could result in significant shortages of certain electronic components, potentially causing pricing for these devices to increase dramatically. While there are few reports of actual damage at facilities, impacts on the transportation and power infrastructure will result in disruptions of supply, resulting in short supply and rising prices.

Japan Earthquake Updates

We've compiled ongoing news and comments from the industry regarding the terrible quake and tsunami that hit Japan.

Walt Custer's Market Outlook

The disaster in Japan has thrown the entire industry into turmoil and made forecasting growth for PCBs and assemblies a bit problematic. Walt Custer, President of Custer Consulting Group, sits down with Editor Ray Rasmussen to provide his perspective on very fluid market dynamics.

Thailand

EPTE Newsletter: Global Implications of Thailand Flooding

News outlets in Thailand continue to report about the ever-expanding damage from massive flooding in the region. The destruction has reached several industrial areas and has forced many foreign-owned manufacturing plants to cease operations.

Thailand Flood Spurs Shortfall in PC Shipments in 1Q12

Hard disk drive (HDD) shortages triggered by the Thailand flood will result in a 3.8 million-unit shortfall in PC shipments in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the previous IHS forecast issued in August. This will contribute to a reduced forecast for the whole of next year, with global PC shipments now expected to expand by only 6.8% in 2012, down from the previous outlook of 9.5% growth.