Last week, executives from the PCB and EMS industries, along with their suppliers and a few customers, met outside Phoenix, Arizona, in Litchfield Park, Arizona (IPC called it Scottsdale for some reason), to discuss their industry, talk about their companies, learn about new markets and about those with solid prospects going forward. The IPC Executive Forum lasted two days and covered a lot of ground.

The forum kicked off with presentations on Mobile Health Applications and Medical Electronics, by Bruce Kline of the Mayo Clinic; Military Programs and Applications by Steve DeWaters (pictured at left), Penumbra Strategies; and Future Network Computer, Driven by Speed, by Mike Freda, Sun Microsystems. Each presentation provided insight into these very critical N.A. markets, which are some of the last bastions of hope for many in our industry. The IPC did a really good job in bringing in presentations on topics that most wanted to hear. 

Now, Solar

It was surprising for most (for sure, for me) in the audience to hear someone so close to the solar industry express so much cynicism. That's just what Paula Mints, Principal Analyst for market research firm PV Services, which has focused on the solar industry for the past 20 years, delivered to the audience.

With all the hype around solar over the last couple years, it was refreshing to hear someone from that industry tell us what's really going on. What was a bit surprising was Mints' unbridled, near-disgust at the way the industry has been behaving of late. I would have expected someone so close to the industry to be a bit more guarded in her presentation in which she described the solar industry as a mess, with over-capacity and crazy incentive programs which prop up losing propositions. Her matter-of-fact analysis cut through the hype we're all so familiar with. In fact, for me, it almost seemed like she was trying to protect the solar industry from more competition by painting such a lousy picture. But the state of the industry speaks for itself.