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December 2014 • The PCB Magazine 25 Francesca Stern, bSc mSc, is an independent business consultant working with companies and organisations in the electronics supply chain. her career has included stints in engineering at itt, Stc and then cmac, followed by four years in the u.S., during which some experience was acquired in the field of u.S. patents. as a consultant at bPa from 2000–2014, she con- tributed to the research, strategic analysis, data acquisition and forecast generation for a wide variety of topics encompassing the electronics and particularly the Pcb industry. Francesca left bPa in march of 2014 to form Francesca Stern consulting). a key activity of FSc is a statistical analysis and forecasting service for the trade association techuK. are tempered by all the countries in that region. On a final note on the outlook for 2015 and onwards, Figure 16 shows a 6/12 growth curve up to end August 2014. In line with the outlook for electronics, it shows a softening of the mar- ket in North America, Asia and Europe while Ja- pan, having barely surpassed negative growth is contracting again. Projecting 12/12 growth for the total world semiconductor market in Figure 18 indicates a softening but still 9% growth in 2014 followed by 12% in 2015 and 8% in 2016. Seasons greeting and best wishes for a hap- py, healthy and prosperous 2015. PCB Figure 17: Semiconductor market, 6/12 growth. Figure 18: Semiconductor market, historic and forecast, 12/12 growth. 2015 OUTLOOk FOR THE PCB INDUSTRy: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIvE continues