52 The PCB Magazine • September 2015
Smart Home Devices and Systems to Top
7 Million Support Requests in 2015
A new report from Parks Associates finds that
smart home devices will prompt over 7 million
support requests this year, with adoption at 16%
of U.S. broadband households and nearly 40%
planning to buy a smart home product in the
next 12 months. By 2019, the number of support
requests will reach nearly 11 million.
A Small, Modular, Efficient Fusion Plant
It's an old joke that many fusion scientists have
grown tired of hearing: Practical nuclear fusion
power plants are just 30 years away — and al-
ways will be. But now, finally, the joke may no
longer be true.
Connected Car Market Services
to Reach $40B by 2020
New market research titled Connected Car Eco-
system: 2015-2030 - Opportunities, Challeng-
es, Strategies & Forecasts presents market size
forecasts for connected car services from 2015
through to 2030.
Consumers in Germany, UK Outline
Technology Preferences for New Vehicles
As the rate of smartphone use in vehicles contin-
ues to grow rapidly in nearly every major mar-
ket globally, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers
are rushing to integrate and incorporate design
and connectivity elements into new vehicles to
address the market demand and desire among
consumers.
Smart Robots Market to Hit
$7.85B by 2020
According to a new market research report "Smart
Robots Market by Component (Software, Hard-
ware), Application (Collaborative Industrial Ro-
bots, Personal Service Robots, Professional Ser-
vice Robots), by Geography (North America, Eu-
rope, APAC, RoW) - Analysis & Forecast to 2020",
published by MarketsandMarkets, the total Smart
Robots Market is expected to reach USD 7.85 Bil-
lion by 2020, at an estimated CAGR of 19.22%
between 2015 and 2020.
N.A. PCB Business Rebounded in June;
Shipments Up 4%
IPC announced the June findings from its monthly
North American PCB Statistical Program. Sales and
orders were up and the book-to-bill ratio strength-
ened to 1.06. Total N.A. PCB shipments increased
4.0% in June 2015 from June 2014, improving
year-to-date shipment growth to -0.%. Compared
to the previous month, PCB shipments were up
18.7%.
Automobile Sector Drives Global
Smart Sensors Market
The Global Smart Sensors Market is expected
to reach US$9.22 billion in 2018, growing at a
CAGR of 11.53% from the period 2014-2020. The
growth of the market is fueled by increasing adop-
tion in automobile sector. It has been emerged as
one of the top contributor in the overall market
size due to increase in the number of vehicles by
emerging economies.
Worldwide Smartphone Market
Posts 11.6% YoY Growth in Q2
According to the latest preliminary release from the
International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide
Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped
a total of 337.2 million smartphones worldwide
in the second quarter of 2015 (2Q15), up 11.6%
from the 302.1 million units in 2Q14. The 2Q15
shipment volume represents the second highest
quarterly total on record. Following an above av-
erage first quarter (1Q15), smartphone shipments
were still able to remain slightly above the pre-
vious quarter thanks to robust growth in many
emerging markets.
U.S. Department of Labor Proposes
New Wage and Overtime Regulations
On June 30, the Department of Labor (DOL) pro-
posed new wage and overtime regulations under
the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and is seeking
comments by September 4, 2015. DOL proposes
to raise the salary threshold for an employee to be
exempt from minimum wage and overtime pay to
be equal to the 40th percentile of earnings for all
full-time salaried workers in the U.S.
52 The PCB Magazine • September 2015
Electronics Industry News
Market Highlights
