The particularly challenging year of 2024 is about to pass. In our PCB industry, 2024 may be a special year for most companies. After the epidemic, the economic situation did not improve, but turned to conservative development. And due to rising production costs, changes in market demand, global supply chain problems, and industry competition, many factories closed down before 2025.

Some factories closed down in various regions：

In Europe, PCB manufacturer Würth Elektronik Circuit Board Technology said it will close the company's PCB production site in Schopfheim, Germany.

The company said the main reason for the closure of the plant is the current severe crisis in the European PCB industry, with a sharp drop in orders. The company's decision to close the plant affects more than 300 employees in Schopfheim. After the plant is closed, future orders will be handled by other Würth Elektronik plants in Germany.

On the other side of the Baltic Sea, in the Estonian city of Paide, Brandner PCB has been producing PCBs for the electronics industry since 1997, but 2024 will be the company's last year.

In an update on its website, Brandner PCB Oü appears to be shutting down its operations at the end of November due to "unfavorable business conditions in the industry."

According to the latest news, the plant will be closed for the last time on November 29, and orders will be produced until November 22.

Aular Soon, a member of the company's management team, told Estonia's Radio 3 that the deterioration of the business environment made it impossible for the company to continue profitable production, so the decision to close was made.

Faraday Printed Circuits Ltd. ("Faraday"), a printed circuit board manufacturer located in Washington, Tyne and Wear, northeast England, has declared bankruptcy due to challenges in the business environment and a decline in orders. The company laid off 39 employees and is preparing to sell assets.

Faraday was founded in 1987 (when the plant area was only 4,000 square feet), and its products include: multi-layer boards, double-sided boards, rigid-flex boards, etc. Now, Faraday's production plant in Washington has an area of more than 22,300 square feet, and has established strategic partnerships with many printed circuit board manufacturers in Asia.

In North America, on February 8, TTM Technologies, a global PCB leader, issued a press release that it plans to close three manufacturing plants, PCB manufacturing operations in Anaheim, California, Santa Clara and Hong Kong, China, and integrate the affected operations at these locations into TTM's remaining facilities. It is expected that about 750 employees will be laid off, accounting for about 5% of the total number of employees worldwide.

There are about 20 large PCB factories that have closed down in China. Among them are well-known companies such as Sichuan Shenbei Circuit Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Xinfeng Electronics Co., Ltd., and Yingde Qilida Electronics Co., Ltd. The bankruptcy of these companies not only exposes the competitive pressure within the industry, but also indicates that the PCB industry is about to usher in a large-scale reshuffle.

Some readers have heated discussions on this topic on Quora, and the main points can be summarized as follows:

(1) Optimistic attitude: It will take 3-5 years to return to normal levels. As investors turn their attention to the recovery after the economic restart, some economists warn that if everything goes well, it may take up to three years for the global economy to return to the level before the new crown pandemic.

(2) More cautious: According to the Kondratiev long wave cycle, 2023 to 2033 is the economic recovery period, and the economy will reach the peak of this cycle in 2033. In other words, the global economy will be on the road to improvement in the next 8-10 years.

(3) Pessimistic attitude: It is getting colder and colder, and there is no way out. The world economy is currently suffering from a series of adverse supply shocks, which cannot be alleviated by a certain industry, a certain company or certain individuals. As a business owner, you can only go with the flow of the times.