IPC Continues Strong Support of North American Electronics Industry

NORTHBROOK, Ill., May 12, 2003--IPC�Association Connecting Electronics Industries has announced that nearly 300 companies have already contracted space at the co-located IPC Printed Circuits Expo� and IPC SMEMA Council�s APEX� exhibition and conference, taking place February 24-26, 2004, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. The restructured event tightens the links of the supply chain and allows IPC to better serve both industries in its fair, focused and cost effective manner.

�Some event management companies and a handful of companies have both publicly and privately written off the North American market for the PCB, electronics assembly and design industries. IPC and its members, though, have not,� explained IPC President Denny McGuirk. �IPC and its supplier members are solidly behind the North American market, as witnessed by their participation in this event.

�We have 46 years of service to these industries. As an association, we are here today and we will be here tomorrow to support and provide programs of significant value for the North American electronic interconnection industry,� added McGuirk.

The event features the world�s largest technical conference and professional development courses on printed circuit boards, electronics assembly and design and includes standards development meetings, a unique component not offered at other electronics industry exhibitions. In addition, the co-location of IPC Printed Circuits Expo, the largest conference and exhibition in North America for the printed circuit industry, and IPC SMEMA Council�s APEX, an electronics assembly trade show recently named to Tradeshow Week magazine�s list of Top 200 tradeshows, creates the largest North American exhibition for the entire electronics interconnection industry.

For more information, contact Joe Dudeck, IPC�s communications manager, at JoeDudeck@ipc.org or 847-790-5371.

About IPC

IPC is a Northbrook, Ill.-based trade association dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its more than 2,300 member companies, which represent all facets of the electronic interconnection industry, including design, printed circuit board manufacturing and electronics assembly. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of a $40 billion U.S. industry employing more than 350,000 people. IPC maintains offices in Taos, N.M.; Washington, D.C.; Garden Grove, Calif.; and Shanghai, China. For more information, visit http://www.ipc.org.