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22 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2025 Feature Interview by Marcy LaRont Tom Yang, CEO of CEE PCB, discusses the current economic challenges, noting reduced purchasing power post-pandemic. He high- lights the growing demand for HDI in con- sumer electronics due to AI growth. Tom also Choosing the Right Strategic Path expresses concerns about tariffs under the new U.S. administration, prompting CEE to diver- sify production locations, including new plants in Southeast Asia. He emphasizes the need for PCB manufacturers to adapt strategically amidst rising costs and fierce com- petition, particularly for mid-sized shops facing unique challenges in the industry. Marcy LaRont: Tom, how are you feeling about the state of the econ- omy and the geopolitical and geo- economic climates? Tom Yang: We cannot say the econ- omy is an ideal situation. Generally, people are more hesitant to spend due to reduced purchasing power compared to pre-pandemic levels. e demand for PCBs varies depending on our client base and product lines. One favorable news item is that the HDI market is gain- ing a larger share with the increasing use of machine learning (ML) com- putation and data centers spurred by AI growth. ese end customers pri- marily operate in the consumer elec- tronics sector. Technology-wise, PCBs haven't seen major breakthroughs, but over- all, HDI is becoming more widely used in various consumer electronics applications (especially smartphones, computers, and wearables) so there is more demand for HDI PCBs.