Printed Circuit Design & Fab - September 2008 - (Page 35)

PCB Fab MarkEtS dielectric resin is coated instead of using RCC or FR-4 for laser drilling. There is a reasonably good chance that Meiko will achieve $1 billion in revenue within a few years. Last but not least, MeadvilleTechnology group (MT) is one of the fastest-growing PCB fabricators in the world. Its PCB operation started modestly as OPC (Oriental Printed Circuit), which still exists in Hong Kong. In the late 1980s, it formed a JV with a local firm in Dongguan, Dongguan Shenyi Electronics (DSE), the majority shareholder is Meadville Technology. Then, it built Shanghai Meadville Electronics (SME), Shanghai Meadville Technology – Silicon Platform (SMT-SP), Dongguan Meadville Circuits (DMC) and finally Guangzhou Meadville Electronics (GME). In early November 2007 MT made a complicated transaction in which it purchased a majority share (80%) of the newly formed JV with Aspocomp. By doing so, MT now owns the former ACP Electronics in Suzhou (originally a JV between Aspocomp and Chin Poon of Taiwan, which sold a minority share of 49% before MT’s purchase). The JV also owns a site in Chennai (which at this time is just land and a permit to build a PCB plant). There was another JV, formed separately, which consists of Aspocomp Thailand and the only remaining plant of Aspocomp in Finland (Oulo). MT owns 20% of this JV and the balance is still owned by Aspocomp. MT is pursuing high layer-count MLB and huge volumes of microvia boards. MT has been collaborating with Tyco PCB, now a part of TTM Technologies, and Japan’s ToppanNEC. It also formed a laminate JV with Hitachi Chemical in Guangzhou – it collaborated with Hitachi Chemical at its laminate plant in Hong Kong, Mica-Ava, in which Hitachi manufactures high Tg and halogen-free laminates. MT also has a reasonably good chance to achieve $1 billion in revenue within a few years. Growth Secrets Many of the top 100 fabricators from 1998 did not make it to 2007. (These companies will be covered in a separate report.) The examination indicates that growth came from two sources: acquisitions and internal growth. Common to both is “capital,” which means “capacity.” Without investment, growth is not possible. Many PCB fabricators with limited land and capacity try to grow by shifting to higher valued products. This strategy works for a while, maybe a few years, but sooner or later, runs out of gas. The long-term success rate of those that grow organically is much better through acquisition. Examining the top seven fabricators that produced more than $1 billion worth of PCBs in 2007, only Unimicron grew by acquisition, and even that company did not do so exclusively, having spent millions of dollars on greenfield plants as well. Complaining about overcapacity in China is of no use, one cannot force companies to cut capacity. The only remedy is investment. Many of China’s top 20 fabricators (based on local production only) have doubled in size, most of these companies are Taiwanese. These companies grew through investment. The small companies stay small and the big keep getting bigger. It’s the same theme, year after year. pCd&f dr. hayao nakahara is president of NT Information and a contributing editor to PCD&F He can be reached at nakanti@yahoo.com. . SEPTEMBER 2008 printEd CirCuit dESign & fAB 35 http://www.midwestaccurate.com http://www.midwestaccurate.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Printed Circuit Design & Fab - September 2008

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - August 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI Positive Plating Off the Shelf Marketplace Ad Index EMC for the Real World Final Finish Forum Design for Green: Laminates A Systematic Approach to Increasing Layer Count The NTI $100 Million Club Printable Nanocomposites BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - September 2008

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