NTI 100: a period of adjustments: "prosperity does not last forever. It comes and goes," an ancient Japanese fable reminds us. So, too, do the world's top PCB makers.

Every year it gets more difficult to compile a list of the top PCB makers. If all the closures aren't enough to drive you crazy, the mergers and acquisitions will.

To wit, in the last year TFM Technologies bought Honeywell ACI's sole remaining PCB plant (Chippewa Falls) and IBM Microelectronics' PCB business was bought by a group of investors. Toppan and NEC joined hands to create a new company, Toppan-NEC Circuit Solutions (NEC-Toppan outside of Japan because "NEC" is better known in electronics). CMK and GBM (Global Brands Manufacture) formed a 49:51 JV. CMK also took over $25 million worth of debts from Photocircuits and the two have been collaborating since.

As usual, the 2002 output of any acquired companies is included in that of the buyer, regardless of whether the purchase took place on Jan. 1 or Dec. 31. This is because prorating the output of the acquired firms is extremely difficult and time-consuming. And again, the NTI list cutoff is set at $50 million.

The exchange rates used to calculate output are as follows (vs. U.S. dollar):

Japanese yen: 120

Taiwan dollar: 34

Korean won: 1,200

China RMB: 8.3

Hong Kong dollar: 7.8

Euro: 1 (note: the Euro appreciated in late 2002).

This list is the fruit of eight months of labor. Despite this author's efforts for accuracy, there may still be several important makers missing and he is sure there are many errors, in part due to ignorance and in part because of poor response from the companies. He is solely responsible for any errors in the list.

By region, Japan, Taiwan and the U.S. had the largest number of entries, followed by Europe, South Korea and China. China's rather small number of entries may seem incongruent considering its national output of approximately $4.5 billion. This is because most large makers in China are foreign transplants. CCTC dropped out because its output fell to $46 million (vs. $64 million in 2001), due largely to erosive pricing. In fact, most makers operating in China saw higher volumes but reduced revenues. Prices of cellphone boards, for example, dropped as much as 30% in 2002. On average, prices fell 20% in China. Otherwise, more Chinese entries would have made the list.

We can also see some shifts underway in the major PCB-producing regions. China is surging--and will continue to do so--while traditional strongholds (North America, Western Europe) are in flux.

The output of the top 114 companies includes domestic and overseas sales. Japanese firms' "total production" in 2002 was $10.4 billion ($1.6 billion of which came overseas). The output of its top five makers was $3.73 billion, or 35.9% of the nation's total production.

The output of South Korea's top five accounts was $1.56 billion, or 70.1% of its total of $2.22 billion (including overseas production). Taiwan's total was $5.07 billion (about $1.2 billion of which came from operations in China). Thus, its top five (output: $1.81 billion) was responsible for 35.6% of the nation's total.

North American firms build about $1.1 billion overseas. This amount helped the top five North American makers (output: $1.82 billion) account for 28.2%. Western Europe's top five ($752 million) accounted for 20%.

The top 114 makers produced about 63% of the world total in 2002. The NTI 100 produced 61%. In 2000 the top 200 produced 64% of the world's total. In short, the big are getting bigger.

Flex Makers Gaining

Makers of flex circuits are gaining in the list, and eight finished in the top 50: Nippon Mektron (No. 3), Fujikura (15), Sony Chemical (22), Nitto Denko  (28), Sumitomo Denko (31), Shindo Denshi (41), MCS (45), and Innovex (50). Approximately 15% of all PCBs produced were flex circuits. The demand for flex in Japan for portable products has been increasing rapidly, as can been seen from these top makers.

That said, collecting data from the flex makers was most challenging. All engage in assembly operations and their products are half-finished in their respective countries, then brought to the Asia Pacific for back-end processing. It is impossible to distinguish the "value" of what was produced domestically vs. what was "added" overseas. Invariably, 10 to 15 % of their revenues come from assembly operations. Strictly speaking, therefore, including flex makers causes inaccuracies. If the bare board value were to be separated from the total, however, the NTI 100 would never be finished. As such, the output of flex makers cannot be fairly compared to that of rigid board makers. Incidentally, all output includes tooling and design charges, which normally account for between eight and 12% of the total.

Comments on Selected Makers

Ibiden is the world largest maker of build-up microvia boards, close to $680 million in 2002. A large portion of this comes from IC substrates, mainly for Intel. Its plant in the Philippines was hit by a military training plane last December, but recovered quickly. Its Beijing microvia plant is located in "Nokia Village" and is going through the second phase of expansion.

CMK was late in entering China, but it now has three plants of its own and one through a JV with GBM. GBM's parent, Pou Chen Group, is headquartered in Taiwan and is well known as a maker of shoes (Nike, etc). CMK was known as the largest maker of single-sided boards but has emphasized more MLB in recent years.

Nippon Mektron is the largest flexible board maker in the world and probably has about 25% market share. It has several plants in Japan (the construction of a multilayer flex plant was nearly completed at the time of this writing). It also has many plants overseas; two in Taiwan, two in China, one in Thailand and a JV in Germany (Freundenberg-Mektec, which in turn has a plant in Czech Republic). Its Hungary plant was closed. Nippon Mektron is forecasting 2003 output to be about $1.1 billion--potentially tops in the world.

Compeq has been suffering losses due to its unsuccessful Intel business. (Intel can make you grow or kill you quickly.) However, Compeq is the largest maker of cellphone boards--to the tune of 62 million pieces made in Taiwan and China in 2002--and will continue to be a leader in this challenging market.

Through aggressive acquisitions and expansions, Unimicron is the fastest-growing company in the Asia Pacific. It may overtake Compeq in 2003 as the No. 1 Taiwanese maker. It has three subsidiaries in China and a fourth to be built in Beijing as a JV with Hon Hal (aka Foxconn, with the investment from Foxconn's subsidiary, Biloda). It just completed a flip-chip substrate manufacturing plant in Taiwan. It makes everything from conventional MLBs to microvia boards and IC substrates. One of its subsidiaries manufactures laminate.

The component manufacturing arm of Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics became No. 1 in South Korea last year. It started to supply flip-chip chipset substrates (build-up microvia substrates) early this year for Intel. It is expanding its microvia operations and its Daejun substrate operation. It was reported that Samsung has abandoned its plans in China for the time being. It was looking into purchasing IBM's Shanghai (Pudong) substrate plant, in which the building was completed but no equipment purchased.

Viasystems Group closed many plants last year including one in Granby, Canada. It produces technically challenging boards at its plants in the Netherlands and Canada, and mass produces in China.

Daeduck Group has several plants in South Korea, one in the Philippines and one in China (single-sided). The types of products it makes are diversified: from single-sided to microvia boards and sophisticated high-layer count MLBs including large backpanels. Due to the poor telecom market its growth has been somewhat slowed but it has gained growth momentum again recently.

Shinko Electric is the second largest supplier of IC substrates to Intel. Fujitsu owns the majority share of the company. It also assembles wafer-scale packages using known-good die supplied by Fujitsu.

With five onshore plants, Sanmina-SCI is the largest maker in North America (it also has one in Kuching, Malaysia, originally built by Zycon). Sanmina-SCI makes very sophisticated MLBs and is aggressively licensing its buried capacitance technology.

Multek has closed all of its manufacturing in North America. First to go was the ex IBM Austin, then the two Irvine plants, followed by the two remaining plants in Roseville, MN, and Guadalajara, Mexico. It now operates only plants overseas: one in Brazil, one in Germany (ex HP plant) and several in Zhuhai, China.

Nanya PCB is pushing volume production to China and concentrating its efforts in Taiwan on IC substrates and higher layer-count MLBs. According to its plan, the PCB part of its highly integrated Kunshan plant (glass yarn, glass cloth, copper foil to laminates by Nanya Plastic and PCBs by Nanya PCB) will be complete by 2009 (Phase 3) and have total capacity of 3 million ft. (2) per month of multilayer products.

Tyco PCB shrunk like any other large North American board maker but has started to grow again through sales of military PCBs, among other products. Its Spanish subsidiary, Tyco Microser, has been shifting its emphasis to its new plant north of Madrid.

Fujikura Corp.'s four plants in Thai land produce the majority of the company's output. Its China plant is engaged in back-end processing and assembly.

MACO (Matsushita Electronic Components) invented "ALIVH" technology. Demand for "filled via" for portable products such as video cameras and cellphones in Japan has increased tremendously this year. Its ALIVH plants (two in Japan) are filled with orders through the end of this year.

Toppan-NEC was formed last year in October. Toppan Printing, its parent, closed the money-losing Toppan Electronics in San Diego at the end of March. Its major market was telecommunications, which Toppan concluded is not coming back soon.

Korea Circuit Group has the fastest growing subsidiary in South Korea (its stock is listed separately as Interflex): $97 million revenue in 2002. Its American subsidiary, KCA, is not doing well from a revenue viewpoint.

Photocircuits has a challenge to successfully collaborate with its partner CMK and complete its 400,000 ft. (2) plant in the Philippines. It remains the world's largest supplier to the automotive market, but its position has been eroded by low-cost Asian competition.

AT&S is the largest European maker, but its dependence on two major customers, Nokia and Siemens, is worrisome as these customers are increasing their board procurement from Asia. Its new Shanghai plant is the answer. Still, it is a challenge for AT&S to grow in China's cutthroat environment, created by uncontrollable overcapacity.

Included in the Hitachi Group is Hitachi PWB Solution (about $30 million in sales in 2002), the first captive shop in Japan to go independent. Then, rigid board maker Sony Neagari merged with financially stronger Sony Chemical (flex, among other products). The majority share of NEC's PWB Division was sold to Toppan to create a JV, Toppan-NEC. Next to go independent was Fujitsu's PWB Division, which closed its money-losing plants in Akashi and Kanume, Japan. The new entity is called Fujitsu Interconnect Technologies (FICT). Toshiba also sold the majority share of its PCB division to Dainippon Printing to create DTCT (Dainippon-Toshiba Circuit Technologies). The only other large captive shop remaining in Japan as a part of its parent is MACO. MACO had worked with Shin-Asahi Denki on all its products for Panasonic Group customers, but gave up that business by handing it in Kyosha, whose plant in Tijuana, Mexico, is one of the two Japanese PCB plants in North America (Ibiden in Elgin, IL). (A third, Rexcan in Canada, owned by Hokuriku Denko, declared bankruptcy in February and closed in April). So, the only large captive shops remaining are Samsung and LG Electronics, both in South Korea. We wonder if they will also consider going "independent" someday.

On Dec. 26, TTM Technologies purchased Honeywell ACI and at a bargain price. Without ACI, TTM's output was $87 million.

Daisho Denshi is coming back strong and is now the second-largest flex-rigid board maker in Japan. It is also engaged in high-end IC substrates.

Meiko Electronics has the largest Japanese-owned plant in China and is expanding by threefold with a second plant under construction. In March, it formed a strategic alliance with Circuit-Wise.

Shirai Denshi has been collaborating with Techwise Circuit in Hui Yang, China, which is owned by Kingboard Chemical (which is also pursuing Elec & Eltek). Techwise is building a second plant in Fugang, not far from Viasystems Kalex in Guangzhou. Shirai Denshi has 30% stake in this new plant. Ironically, Shirai Denshi had minority stake in the predecessor of Viasystems Kalex, Termbray Kalex, but it broke the relationship.

Many makers disappeared from the top list. Some European makers would have made the list if current exchange rates were used; they include Lares-Cozzi and STP. (STP was set to close in July.)

The industry has its most challenging years ahead. Steering companies ill the right direction is not easy. A formula that works for some makers won't for others. A dependence on fewer major customers has worked for some makers (Ibiden on Intel, AT&S on Nokia and Siemens), but this formula failed for others (such as SSK with Nokia and Ericsson, which dropped off the list in 2002) and, to some degree, Compeq (Intel).

In the 13th century, a book called "Story of Heike" was published in Japan. The Heike clan was the most powerful and prosperous family in 12th century Japan, headed by Tairano Kiyomori. After his death, the clan crumbled quickly under a challenge from the Minamoto clan, which in turn lasted only three short generations. The book opens by saying, "Prosperity does not last forever. It comes and goes, like foam which is formed and disappears in the water." This applies not just to families but to cultures (the Roman and Mongolian Empires, to name a few)--and companies. Taiwan was feared in the 1990s for its low-cost manufacturing, yet today its position is threatened by China. In 2002 half of Taiwan's top makers lost money--an unthinkable occurrence only three years ago.

PCB makers are going through a period of adjustments; some may work, others will fail. Ups and downs will continue, and hopefully, companies will learn from their successes (and failures) and will prosper. Without healthy PCB firms, there will be no equipment and material business. For the good of the industry, more consolidations, closures and M&A activity are ahead. But without PCBs, there are no electronics.

TABLE 1. Entries by Region

Japan         41     36%
Taiwan        25     22%
U.S.          18   15.8%
Europe        10     83%
South Korea    9    7.9%
China          7    6.1%
ASEAN          4    3.4%

TABLE 2. World Production and Forecast

REGION                 2001     2002     2003     2004     2005

N. America             7380     5363     5122     5506     5853
S. America              141      127      133      151      158
W. Europe              4530     3702     3410     3563     3795
Other (Non-Asian)       755      776      801      820      840
Japan                  8780     8807     8895     9162     9620
Taiwan                 3925     3872     3949     4067     4311
China                  3595     4499     5488     6696     8035
S. Korea               1950     2154     2240     2280     2395
ASIA SUBTOTAL        20,292   21,517   22,910   24,683   26,963
TOTAL                33,098   31,485   32,376   34,732   37,609
Asia share (%)         61.3     68.3     70.8     71.1     71.7

In US$ millions. Source: N. T. Information Ltd.

TABLE 3. Top PCB Makers in 2002

COMPANY                                   COUNTRY         2002     2001

1   Ibiden                                Japan            932      887
2   CMK                                   Japan            931      850
3   Nippon Mektron *                      Japan            887      708
4   Hitachi Group                         Japan            562      750
5   Compeq                                Taiwan           515      597
6   Unimicron                             Taiwan           465      410
7   Samsung Electro-Mech                  South Korea      462      368
8   Viasystems                            U.S.             430      560
9   Daeduck Group                         South Korea      428      410
10  Shinko Electric                       Japan            420      458
11  Sanmina-SCI                           U.S.             395      750
12  Multek                                U.S.             380      400
13  Nanya PCB                             Taiwan           354      296
14  Tyco                                  U.S.             335      550
15  Fujikura *                            Japan            312      242
16  MACO                                  Japan            304      308
17  Toppan-NEC                            Japan            298      156
18  Korea Circuit Group                   South Korea      280      270
19  Photocircuits                         U.S.             280      294
20  AT&S                                  Austria          276      278
21  LG Electronics                        South Korea      265      226
22  Sony Chemical *                       Japan            260      307
23  Fujitsu ITC                           Japan            258      458
24  Wus                                   Taiwan           254      268
25  Mitsubishi Gas Chemical               Japan            240      264
26  Elec & Eltek                          China            238      280
27  Kyoden Group                          Japan            236      141
28  Nitto Denko *                         Japan            233      146
29  DDi                                   U.S.             230      270
30  Goda                                  Taiwan           220      200
31  Sumitomo Denko *                      Japan            212      167
32  3M                                    U.S.             200      200
33  Unitech                               Taiwan           197      138
34  Elna                                  Japan            184      143
35  Daisho Denshi                         Japan            183      146
36  Endicott Interconnect Technologies    U.S.             183      250
37  Meadville Group                       China            178      180
38  Ruwel                                 Germany          173      208
39  TTM                                   U.S.             173      129
40  Unicap                                Taiwan           172      213
41  Shindo Denshi *                       Japan            167      177
42  Chin Poon                             Taiwan           165      158
43  Meiko Electronics                     Japan            163      139
44  GCE                                   Taiwan           158      174
45  MCS * (Mitsui Metal)                  Japan            150      210
46  NTK                                   Japan            146      117
47  Vertex                                Taiwan           140       81
48  Eastern Pacific Circuit               China            135      138
49  Topsearch                             China            133      147
50  Innovex *                             U.S.             131      120
51  Sumitomo Bakelite *                   Japan            125      119
52  Tripod                                Taiwan           125      112
53  Ya Hsin                               Taiwan           124       89
54  M-Flex *                              U.S.             123       92
55  Airex                                 Japan            113      137
56  Shirai Denshi                         Japan            112      106
57  Sanwa Denki Group                     Japan            112       97
58  Petasys                               South Korea      110      108
59  Aspocomp                              Finland          110      170
60  Kyosha Group                          Japan            107       97
61  Vogt/Fuba                             Germany           98      133
62  Techwise Circuit                      China             96       84
63  Alcatel Group                         France            95      127
64  DTCT                                  Japan             92       88
65  Young Poon *                          South Korea       90       49
66  Merix                                 U.S.              90      121
67  Parlex *                              U.S.              89       87
68  Gul Technologies                      Singapore         88       97
69  Schweizer Electronics                 Germany           88       97
70  TIPC (Toyota)                         Japan             85       80
71  KCE                                   Thailand          84       88
72  Yeti Electronics                      Taiwan            83       65
73  Hokuriku Denko                        Japan             83       80
74  Yamamoto Mfg.                         Japan             81      112
75  Itabashi Seiki                        Japan             78       88
76  Hitachi Cable *                       Japan             78       82
77  PPT                                   Taiwan            77       60
78  Teradyne                              U.S.              77      137
79  ASE                                   Taiwan            73       60
80  Eastern Co. Ltd.                      Japan             72       60
81  Hann Star                             Taiwan            71       48
82  PWC                                   Taiwan            71       81
83  Pentex-Schweizer                      Singapore         71       72
84  Eurocir                               Spain             70      100
85  Kyoei Sangyo                          Japan             69       87
86  Wurth Electronics                     Germany           68       69
87  GBM                                   Taiwan            67       37
88  MFS *                                 Singapore         67       50
89  Santa Light Metal                     Japan             66       64
90  Cire Group                            France            65       70
91  Micro Product *                       U.S.              65       63
92  Sheldahl *                            U.S.              65      106
93  SI Flex *                             South Korea       64       39
94  Casio Microelectronics                Japan             64       60
95  Nippon Elec Co.                       Japan             62       64
96  Shea May                              Taiwan            62       54
97  JVC                                   Japan             61       70
98  Biloda                                Taiwan            60       60
99  Uni-Circuit                           Taiwan            59       63
100 Yang An                               Taiwan            55       60
101 Simmtech                              South Korea       55       50
102 Circatex                              U.K.              55       83
103 Pucka *                               Taiwan            54       38
104 Estec Group                           China             54       60
105 Yamanashi Matsushita                  Japan             54       55
106 Ding Ying Co.                         Taiwan            52       48
107 Cosmo Tech                            South Korea       52       50
108 Ambitech                              U.S.              52       61
109 Clover Electronics                    Japan             50       63
110 Shin-Asahi Denshi                     Japan             50       52
111 Maruwa Mfg. *                         Japan             50       50
112 Yu Fu                                 Taiwan            50       62
113 Red Board                             China             50       45
114 Northrup Grumman                      U.S.              50       50

TOTALS                                                  19,911   20,343

COMPANY                                   COMMENTS

1   Ibiden                                Beijing plant expanding
2   CMK                                   Four plants in China
                                          including a JV with GBM
3   Nippon Mektron *                      New MLB flex plant almost
                                          ready
4   Hitachi Group                         Japanese ops did poorly
5   Compeq                                Intel business was poor
6   Unimicron                             Could take over as top
                                          Taiwanese maker
7   Samsung Electro-Mech                  Gave up China plant
8   Viasystems                            Concentrating in China
9   Daeduck Group                         Daeduck GDS built a
                                          single-sided plant in
                                          Tianjin, China
10  Shinko Electric                       Good start to fiscal 2003
11  Sanmina-SCI                           Strong licensing business
                                          in ZBC
12  Multek                                Closed all its North American
                                          plants
13  Nanya PCB                             Shanghai plantwill contribute
14  Tyco                                  Strong military business
15  Fujikura *                            Expanding in Thailand and
                                          China
16  MACO                                  Loaded with ALIVH this year
17  Toppan-NEC                            Investing $85 million in IC
                                          substrate business
18  Korea Circuit Group                   Interflex is going
                                          independent
19  Photocircuits                         Trying to complete
                                          Philippines plant
20  AT&S                                  Shanghai plant will
                                          contribute
21  LG Electronics                        Still operating one line for
                                          BGA substrates
22  Sony Chemical *                       Neagari division is
                                          subcontracting a lot
23  Fujitsu ITC                           Vietnam doing more microvia
                                          baords
24  Wus                                   Expanding in China
25  Mitsubishi Gas Chemical               JCI shrank, but TCI expanded
26  Elec & Eltek                          Pursued by Kingboard Chemical
27  Kyoden Group                          Added Fujikiko and Nippon
                                          Elec
28  Nitto Denko *                         Big plant in Suzhou, China
29  DDi                                   Struggling, to say the least
30  Goda                                  Membrane switches, among
                                          other PCBs
31  Sumitomo Denko *                      Grew quite a bit
32  3M                                    Wild, wild guess
33  Unitech                               Second plant in Shanghai
                                          under construction
34  Elna                                  Did very well
35  Daisho Denshi                         No. 2 flex-rid maker in
                                          Japan now
36  Endicott Interconnect Technologies    Under new owner, emphasizing
                                          marketing
37  Meadville Group                       Tied with Toppan-NEC and DTCT
38  Ruwel                                 One of the largest suppliers
                                          for auto market
39  TTM                                   Spent $2 million to buy
                                          Honeywell ACI
40  Unicap                                See DDi
41  Shindo Denshi *                       Flex BGA and TAB maker
42  Chin Poon                             Expanded China plant (JV with
                                          Aspocomp)
43  Meiko Electronics                     Expanding chief plant and new
                                          plant in China
44  GCE                                   China will contribute
45  MCS * (Mitsui Metal)                  Flex BGA and TAB maker
46  NTK                                   IC substrates for Intel
                                          and AMD
47  Vertex                                Flex plant in China growing
48  Eastern Pacific Circuit               Automotive electronics doing
                                          well
49  Topsearch                             Plagued by lower prices
50  Innovex *                             Growing in Thailand
51  Sumitomo Bakelite *                   New plant in Hanoi, Vietnam
52  Tripod                                75-80% for memory modules
53  Ya Hsin                               Now mostly in China
                                          (PlayStation 2)
54  M-Flex *                              Big plant in Suzhou, China
55  Airex                                 Closed Philippines plant
56  Shirai Denshi                         JV with Techwise Circuit in
                                          Fugan, China
57  Sanwa Denki Group                     Doing well
58  Petasys                               Strong supplier to Cisco
59  Aspocomp                              JV with Chin Poon in Suzhou,
                                          China
60  Kyosha Group                          May absorb Shin-Nihon Denshi
                                          this year
61  Vogt/Fuba                             Automotive board supplier,
                                          among others
62  Techwise Circuit                      JV with Shirai Denshi, 46% to
                                          Japanese
63  Alcatel Group                         Closed the plant in Gent
64  DTCT                                  B2it started to grow
65  Young Poon *                          Phenomenal growth
66  Merix                                 High-tech MLB
67  Parlex *                              Shift toward China
68  Gul Technologies                      Building a second plant in
                                          China (Wuxi)
69  Schweizer Electronics                 C. Schweizer and M. Gasch
                                          retired
70  TIPC (Toyota)                         Supplies to Ibiden
71  KCE                                   Expecting $108 million in
                                          fiscal 2003
72  Yeti Electronics                      Don't know well
73  Hokuriku Denko                        Closed Rexcan in February
74  Yamamoto Mfg.                         Struggling
75  Itabashi Seiki                        More single-sided moving to
                                          Philippines
76  Hitachi Cable *                       Flex EGA and TAB maker
77  PPT                                   BGA/CSP maker
78  Teradyne                              Backpanel business is weak
79  ASE                                   Will build substrates plant
                                          in Shanghai
80  Eastern Co. Ltd.                      Coming back strongly, new
                                          plant
81  Hann Star                             Did well in 2002
82  PWC                                   Forever the same
83  Pentex-Schweizer                      Wuxi plant will contribute
84  Eurocir                               Not in contact recently
85  Kyoei Sangyo                          Not sure of 2002 output
86  Wurth Electronics                     Bought Photo Print
                                          Electronics
87  GBM                                   JV with CMK and building
                                          second plant
88  MFS *                                 Related with M-Flex (same
                                          parent)
89  Santa Light Metal                     Sumitomo company
90  Cire Group                            Doing poorly
91  Micro Product *                       Don't know this one well
92  Sheldahl *                            Restarting
93  SI Flex *                             Third largest flex board
                                          maker in Korea
94  Casio Microelectronics                Flex BGA/CSP
95  Nippon Elec Co.                       Bought by Kyoden (Malaysia
                                          to be closed?)
96  Shea May                              China plant started
97  JVC                                   Loss of Motorola work hurts
98  Biloda                                Foxconn company
99  Uni-Circuit                           China plant started
100 Yang An                               Plant in Wuxi
101 Simmtech                              BGA substrate maker, alliance
                                          with CMK
102 Circatex                              Ex Viasystems (ex ISL)
103 Pucka *                               Purchased by Career Tech; new
                                          name Career Technology
104 Estec Group                           Little-known maker
105 Yamanashi Matsushita                  Subsidiary of Matsushita
                                          Electric Works
106 Ding Ying Co.                         Don't know this one
107 Cosmo Tech                            Single-sided plant in
                                          Dongguang
108 Ambitech                              High-tech MLB
109 Clover Electronics                    Lost a lot of Nokia and
                                          Ericsson jobs
110 Shin-Asahi Denshi                     Will it be absorbed by
                                          Kyosha?
111 Maruwa Mfg. *                         Flex maker
112 Yu Fu                                 Don't know this one
113 Red Board                             Jack Diaz (ex PCB Center)
                                          works here now
114 Northrup Grumman                      A large investment in
                                          1998-1999

* Flexible board manufacturer. Source: N.T. Information Ltd., June 2003

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to thank all of the PCB makers that helped him come up with this list. Special thanks are due to the TPCA and Michael Gasch of Schweizer Electronics (who is now happily retired), Without their help, it would have been impossible to compile such a challenging list.

DR. HAYAO NAKAHARA is president of N.T. Information (Huntington, NY) and consulting editor to PCD&M. He can be reached at 631-673-8571; [e-mail].