Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1506834
SEPTEMBER 2023 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 13 shops, and creating large conglomerates that have a lot of leverage in terms of their overall spend and revenue streams. We will continue to see consolidation because it's what happens as markets shrink, but there will be new opportunities in the United States as it relates to substrates, not just ABF and build-up films or the actual substrate. ere will be an opportunity for the materials suppliers. You may see greenfield investments from cur- rent companies that are expanding into other capabilities and need more brick and mortar. You may also see more international entrants into the market. e U.S., thanks to nearshor- ing and onshoring, may become appealing to their investment, and they may want to have a footprint here. You may see some new com- panies actually start hanging shingles in the United States as well. ere will be a nice cross- pollination of all those different scenarios. Johnson: It sounds like the new and emerg- ing technologies are much more attractive than building additional capacity for the well-known PCB fabrication technologies to supply demand. at's right. at would be hard. At some point, not only do you need to scale up, you have to look at that demand signal on the upper eche- lon of technology. Our strength is innovation, and it will be hard to compete if you're manu- facturing legacy or "commodity products." As it relates to new semiconductors built in the United States and IC substrates from advanced packaging to be embedded on the board, I see new opportunities—not only for end products, but also your subassemblies and technology. When you think about mSAP and so forth, there will be convergence of all tech- nology. Ultimately, a PCB will become more similar to substrates as you increase the ultra- density interconnect. It's the catalyst to get there quicker. We can hypothesize that certain PCB fabri- cators will want to get into that market because there is funding available. It's a given, a neces- sity, that we will make chips in the United States, but we don't want to ship them back to Asia for packaging. So, how can fabricators get into the substrate market? at's a big oppor- tunity for fabricators as they look to diversify their revenue streams. Defense is a revenue stream, but it's such a small part of their over- all business. Commercial business in the U.S. is hard because you have competition from over- seas, so the substrates may be very appealing to some of our fabricators. Johnson: Earlier, you mentioned $3 billion of funding included in HR 3249. Where do you see that money going? It will be across the board. Much of it will be for research and development, especially as it relates to substrates and multilayered printed circuit boards; while not new to the world, substrates and advanced packaging are obvi- ously new to the U.S. market. It's not only the requirements and the capabilities that are required for substrates and the like, but it's also looking at how we get that know-how back into our country. We're looking at STEM emphasis in the uni- versities, as well as the technician jobs in this industry, where you don't need a four-year degree for all the open positions. is funding