China's rapid push toward factory automation is reshaping its electronics manufacturing sector, with robots increasingly replacing assembly jobs. Apple has accused OpenAI of building its emerging hardware business on stolen trade secrets.

China's accelerating adoption of industrial robots is reducing demand for factory labor in major electronics manufacturing hubs such as Kunshan, where many former assembly workers are now relying on temporary gig jobs.

Researchers at TU Bergakademie Freiberg have developed a fully compostable printed circuit board made from fungal mycelium derived from citric acid production waste.

Researchers at Rice University have developed a computational framework that predicts how bioresorbable and flexible electronic circuits degrade over time, enabling designers to model changes in electrical, mechanical and RF performance for temporary implantable medical devices before clinical use.

PDC&F has opened its 2026 PCB Designer Salary Survey, inviting PCB designers, design engineers and layout specialists to share information on salaries, job responsibilities, experience, education and more. Responses will be accepted through July 31.

Imec and Diraq have demonstrated the first coherent operation of an eight-qubit silicon MOS spin-qubit array fabricated on a 300mm CMOS-compatible foundry process.

Honda has recalled more than 32,000 Odyssey minivans in Canada after water intrusion was found to corrode the PCB in the rear-view camera assembly.

Yamaha Robotics releases 1 Stop Smart Solution updates.

The electronic system design (ESD) industry generated a record of over $5B in first-quarter revenue, up over 12 percent year over year.

PCEA announced a dedicated electronics assembly program for PCB West 2026, featuring 10 technical sessions on solder paste, placement, reflow, stencil design and cleaning.

Registration is open for PCB West 2026, which will feature more than 120 hours of PCB design and assembly training this September in Santa Clara.

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.

Apple has sued OpenAI, alleging the AI company misappropriated confidential product information by recruiting former Apple employees, encouraging job candidates to disclose trade secrets, and seeking access to proprietary manufacturing techniques./p>

The US has eased export controls on the United Arab Emirates, allowing approved organizations to access certain AI chips, servers, commercial satellites and military-related technologies without individual licenses.

Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales will reach a record $229B by 2028, up 23 percent year over year.

LeeMah Electronics will close its Brisbane, CA, headquarters and manufacturing facility, laying off 212 employees beginning in September.

Global smartphone shipments declined 6 percent year-over-year in the second quarter to 277M units.

Mitsubishi Estate plans to invest over 9B to build large-scale data centers across Japan.

Samsung Electronics plans to begin operations at the first fabrication plant in its Yongin semiconductor cluster in 2029.

Nvidia supplier King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) plans to invest over $1B to establish a semiconductor testing facility in the US.

Federal Electronics has added new automation, additional production space and enhanced testing resources.

Forwessun has partnered with Test Research to deliver integrated board testing and inspection solutions.

PCEA has named Brooke (Anglin) Downey vice president of sales to lead sales for its events, publications and digital media.

MicroCare has appointed Kevin Castonguay senior director of marketing.

Altus Group names Brian Andrews and James Langham field service engineers

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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.