If you were to attempt to gauge the health of the interconnect industry in Japan by the number of exhibitors at this year's JPCA Show, you would fail. There was a record number - 551 - even though virtually every fabricator interviewed stated that business was down 30 to 50 percent or more. Asahi Kasei said that dry-film resist consumption in Japan has declined more than 30 percent this year. One equipment supplier that decided not to exhibit this year said his company had nothing new to show; instead, he provided manpower for his representative's booth. Yet, the show was big, and there were interesting things to find, provided one searched carefully and was aided by someone conversant in technical Japanese!
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