Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1443477
8 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2022 Nolan's Notes by Nolan Johnson, I-CONNECT007 What's Driving Europe? It's not breaking news that Europe is central to much of the automotive electronics devel- opment in the world economy, but what are the actual numbers? e global consumer electronics market was estimated at $838.85 billion in 2020, accord- ing to Grand View Research 1 . With an esti- mated global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $84.54 trillion, consumer electronics makes up roughly 1% of the entire global economy. If we zoom into some key regions using 2020 data, we see the info in Table 1. Now, this data is a bit "apples to oranges" in that, by deadline, I hadn't yet found any data for automotive across the EU, so while I show the EU's GDP—and with apologies to France, the UK, Italy, and all other non-German auto companies—the automotive specific statis- tics are just for Germany. Even still, the Euro- pean numbers give one pause: Germany alone has more gross product from automotive than either the U.S. or China. Whatever the num- bers are for the rest of the EU, it's clear that automotive is a major industrial and electron- ics driver in Europe. Europe is a big market with a great deal of innovation underway in PCB fabrication and assembly. For example, Europe has a lead- ership role in Industry 4.0 development. It is widely seen as a driving force in sustainabil- ity and environmental stewardship. Inside the printed circuit industry, Europe continues to be a ripe incubator for new processes, materi- als, equipment, and automation solutions. For