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64 SMT007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2025 IPC APEX EXPO 2025 REVIEW Article by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 At IPC APEX EXPO, my days are filled with either talking or listening from sunup to sundown. I get to ask questions of some of the brightest minds in the business, while also listening and synthesizing what they're sharing with me about the current and future state of the industry. Here are five observa- tions based on these conversations. e industry is optimistic. E ven in the face of uncertainty, buyers and vendors are moving forward with their plans. One industry insider said, "If they have a strategic plan at all, they're still executing on it." e sentiment seems to be that the upward trend might be shied by current changes in economic pol- icy coming out of the U.S., but it will not be squelched by it. Naturally, the trade in equipment seemed brisk on the show floor. e EMS Leadership Summit is improving in value and insight. I've had the pleasure of attending several of these summits, and each year the agenda gets better. Mark Wolfe, Tracy Riggan, and the rest of the planning committee dial in the program with every iteration. If the objec- tive of the summit is to bring EMS industry leadership together to network, build better The New Normal Looks Like the Old Normal 1 2 (LR) Devan Iyer, the Chief Strategist for Advanced Packaging at IPC and Ahmad Bahai, Ph. D, Sr. VP & CTO, Texas Instruments. (LR) Devan Iyer, the Chief Strategist for Advanced Packaging at IPC and Ahmad Bahai, Ph. D, Sr. VP & CTO, Texas Instruments.