The Asia-Pacific region is expected to offer opportunities for the global SMT industry, owing to steady economic growth in countries such as China and India. The region’s increased presence in electronics manufacturing and original design manufacturing is enhancing the demand for SMT equipment. End use sectors such as consumer electronics, communications electronics, industrial electronics, medical and automotive electronics is also contributing to the rapid growth in the SMT equipment market.
Among the SMT products, completely automated screen printers are expected to experience the highest demand from EMS providers and the automotive, aerospace, defence and telecommunication industries. Changing customer profiles place ceilings on the maximum outlay for new screen print machinery. Accordingly, the SMT screen print equipment market is increasingly being driven by mid-range automatic screen printers, which are a unique combination of affordability and superior automation.