Qatar and the UAE joined the Trump administration’s Pax Silica initiative to strengthen AI and semiconductor supply chains, while Siemens moved to embed shift-left PCB test engineering through its acquisition of Aster Technologies.

AI developments highlighted at CES 2026 signal accelerating momentum for physical-world applications, from autonomous vehicles to humanoid robots moving closer to commercial deployment.

PCB East 2026’s exhibition hall is more than 90 percent sold out, reflecting strong exhibitor demand ahead of the April event in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Chinese AI researchers say China is narrowing the technology gap with the US through greater risk-taking and innovation, though limited access to advanced chipmaking tools remains a key constraint.

Researchers have demonstrated a heat-shrinking fabrication method that prints semi-liquid metal circuits on thermoplastic films, enabling durable, shape-adaptive electronics that conform to complex surfaces while maintaining electrical stability after thousands of deformation cycles.

Chinese researchers have developed a shrink-film–based fabrication technique that uses semi-liquid metal circuits and thermoplastic substrates to create high-performance electronics that tightly conform to irregular 3D surfaces.

Maggie Frachioni discusses her transition into PCB design at General Motors and how PCEA’s Certified Printed Circuit Designer coursework reshaped her career path on the PCB Chat podcast.

Wally Rhines reviews the latest ECAD market data, including sustained year-over-year growth, regional sales shifts and employment trends across design and semiconductor tools on the PCB Chat podcast.

Yamaha releases YRH10W hybrid placement machine.

TRI introduces TR7600FB SII 3D AXI system.

Shenmao launches PF606-P266J jet dispensing solder paste.

PCB West 2026 booth sales are now open to all exhibitors, with more than 60 percent of the floor already reserved following early access for returning companies.

Looking for networking opportunities? Join the PCEA Discord server, bringing together engineers and designers from around the world on a private channel for discussing technical questions and career opportunities.

Qatar and the UAE are joining the Trump administration’s Pax Silica initiative, expanding a US-led alliance focused on securing AI, semiconductor and critical mineral supply chains.

Siemens has acquired Aster Technologies, integrating advanced PCB test engineering and shift-left DFT capabilities into its Xpedition and Valor software platforms.

Google will shift new product introduction and manufacturing for its high-end Pixel smartphones to Vietnam this year, while lower-end Pixel A models remain in China.

Global PC shipments grew 9 percent in 2025, but rising memory and storage costs are expected to limit supply and pressure shipments this year.

SpaceX’s Bastrop, Texas Starlink factory is producing about 15,000 satellite dishes per day, with in-house PCB and phased-array antenna manufacturing.

Flex filed a lawsuit alleging a former deputy general counsel secretly cofounded AutoConnect and engaged in self-dealing during a patent sale.

Schweizer Electronic completed the sale of a 15 percent stake in its Jiangsu subsidiary to Wus Printed Circuit.

Wus Printed Circuit said it will invest $300M to develop and mass-produce high-density optoelectronic integrated circuit boards for AI computing and autonomous driving.

EDAC has registered with PEZA to establish an export-oriented electronics manufacturing hub in New Clark City, Philippines.

Amber Enterprises India has completed an acquisition of a majority stake in Pune-based Shogini Technoarts.

SRC Technologies Group secured a $1M grant from Missouri State University’s Jordan Valley Innovation Center to build a low-volume, high-mix electronics assembly line.

ASC Sunstone Circuits added a high-precision via fill machine to its Oregon facility.

Jiujiang Defu Technology walked away from a $190M acquisition of Circuit Foil Luxembourg after regulators restricted the deal to a minority stake without control.

Rohde & Schwarz opened a larger Osaki office to expand automotive test, calibration and local engineering support in Japan.

Libra Industries named Greg Rowell global director of continuous improvement.

Optical Gaging Products appointed Panos Angelopoulos president of global sales.

Nexperia Crisis Exposes Hidden Fragility in the PCB Supply Chain
PCD&F/CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY

PCB Defect Detection Using Machine Learning: YOLOv5 and Inception v3 CNN-Based Approach
2025 ICSSES

High-Precision Electronic Component Detection via Multi-Scale Attention and Dynamic Feature Fusiont
Scientific Reports

EVENTS

PCB Update is a digital newsletter for PCB design, fabrication and assembly professionals, brought to you by Printed Circuit Engineering Association™. E-mail industry press releases or links to the editors of CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY or PCD&F: pr@pcea.net.