Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/426386
December 2014 • The PCB Magazine 19 ada appears to have peaked already. Electron- ics production in North America is dominated by the USA, which at $200 billion+ outweighs the $25 billion contribution from Canada. The USA data is therefore used to drive the forecast for North America shown in Figure 9. The to- tal growth in 2014 is expected however to be around 1–2% while for 2015 and 2016 there will be little or no growth according to the fore- cast in Figure 9. Despite the upwards trends of electronics production in North America, PCB production has failed to achieve a similar positive growth and expected growth for the full year 2014 is negative, at about -1.5%. Looking forward in Figure 10, the general direction of growth is lacklustre and the upcoming merger of TTM and Viasystems (the two largest fabricators in North America) with an expected resultant con - solidation of resources (and mutual customers Figure 9: electronics production in north america, 12/12 growth, historic and forecast 2014–2017. Figure 10: Pcb production in north america, 12/12 growth, historic and forecast 2014–2017. 2015 OUTLOOk FOR THE PCB INDUSTRy: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIvE continues