Another Productronica has come and gone. What did we learn?

That the biggest trend – besides the ubiquitous white sneakers attendees wore – was size. (Glass-free substrates were a close second.) More on that in a moment.

ATLANTA, GA – The North American Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) sector shows a market that is stabilizing as it heads into 2026. The EMS book-to-bill ratio held at a strong 1.26. Total EMS shipments for October were essentially flat year-over-year, down 0.1%, but rose 4.9% from September. Year-to-date shipments remain slightly below last year’s pace, declining 0.7% compared to the first ten months of 2024.

ATLANTA, GA – North America’s PCB sector opened the fourth quarter with a sharp acceleration in activity, as October shipments and bookings posted double-digit gains, according to new data from the Global Electronics Association. Total PCB shipments rose 24.4% year over year and increased 13.5% from September, pushing year-to-date shipments up 11.9%.

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – NOVEMBER 10, 2025 – The Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA) today issued a call for abstracts for the PCB West 2026 technical conference. The conference, the largest of its kind in Silicon Valley, focuses on training and best practices for printed circuit board designers and design engineers, electronics hardware engineers, fabricators and assemblers.