Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1202019
JANUARY 2020 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 69 Kaplan: Thank you. That's what CIMS is all about. Matties: You're obviously a global player. How do you see the business climate around the world? Kaplan: Our main focus is still Asia, so we're very optimistic about China despite all the negative news. We see a lot of growth in China and Taiwan. As far as other markets go, we see some optimism in the U.S. We don't expect a lot in Europe, but we still have a solid pres- ence in all of those countries because of the fact that a lot of new technologies are coming out of there. Many companies manufacturing in Asia are still headquartered in the U.S. or Europe. We're working with them directly in those countries. As far as installations go, it's mostly going to be in China and Taiwan. There was a significant slowdown in Korea this year. Hopefully, they will recover because Korea is a very important market for us as well. Matties: Do you see a shift to Thailand and India? Kaplan: There's always potential there, but we don't see it as a big contributor to our sales in the next year. India, Vietnam, or Thailand are not going to replace China any time soon. Ten years ago, everybody was talking about emerging PCB markets in Southeast Asia, but it didn't happen as we hoped. Vietnam is an interesting case; we see a lot of ongoing investment there by Korean companies, and some big Japanese PCB mak- ers continue expansion in that part of the world. By working with those companies in their home countries, like Korea or Japan, we are covering that market as well. In addition, we have had a presence in both Vietnam and Thailand for years already, and we're still hoping that we're going to see some more business there in the future. Matties: I appreciate your time today. It's always good to catch up. Thank you so much. Kaplan: No problem. PCB007 Brook Sandy-Smith, IPC's technical conference program manager, describes the wide selection of professional devel- opment courses that attendees can partake in to level up their careers, understand changes in standards, hone their leadership skills, and more. Click the image to watch the video. (Source: IPC) Professional Development at IPC APEX EXPO 2020