October 16, 2025

Worldwide PC Shipments Grew 8.2% in Third Quarter of 2025 Worldwide PC shipments reached 69M in Q3 2025, up 8.2% YoY, driven by Windows 10 EOS upgrades. North America grew just 1.6%, while AI PCs surged to 31% of shipments. Lenovo led top-five vendors with 16.6% growth, as the market shifts toward AI-enabled devices. Gartner

Sponsor Plasma as a Key Technology Plasma technology improves electronics manufacturing, reduces oxide layers, prevents delamination & enables environmentally friendly products by using Openair-Plasma ® & PlasmaPlus®. Plasmatreat GmbH

Apple's Foldable iPhone May Be Cheaper Than We Expected Apple is set to launch a foldable iPhone in 2026, likely priced around $2,000. Featuring a new hinge and display technology to prevent creases, the device aims to combine premium design with broader market appeal, potentially sparking a major upgrade cycle. BGR

The "Fried Egg" Effect in Soldering Burnt-on flux residue that is visible on the solder mask of PCBs after improper reflow settings produces significant challenges to the reliability of finished boards. Technical Paper

Pegatron chair downplays impact of rare earth curbs Pegatron chairman Tung Tzu-hsien said China's rare-earth export curbs won't immediately disrupt iPhone production as suppliers adjust. Yet he warned that prolonged limits could slow global growth, hit Taiwan's chipmakers, and drive nations to expand rare-earth mining. Taipei Times

Sponsor Underfill Epoxy Offers Thermal Conductivity Master Bond EP29LPTCHT is a low viscosity adhesive that can be used for underfill & encapsulation apps. It offers thermal conductivity & electrical insulation. Master Bond

Why Corporate Innovation Moves So Slowly — and the Shift That's Finally Breaking the Cycle Dima, Head of Gcore for Startups and founder of PitchBob.io, highlights a persistent corporate innovation challenge: companies must experiment and collaborate with startups, yet rigid IT, governance, and procurement systems often stall pilots and slow adaptation. Entrepreneur

Technical Papers ■ PCB Rework Evolves, With X-ray a Constant Support ■ How pH Cleaning Agents Affect Production Performance ■ A Universal AI-Powered Segmentation Model for PCBA & Semiconductor ■ RAIG Minimizes Corrosion, Allows Higher Gold on ENEPIG ■ High Reliability Lead-Free Solder Paste with Rosin and Anti-Crack Resin ■ Understanding Solder Dross: Causes and Control Strategies ■ Optimizing BGA Rework: Challenges, Techniques and Quality Control ■ Maintenance: The Basics of Cleaning Series Part 4 ■ The Economics of Electronic Component Salvage and Reuse ■ Cutting Without Contact: How Laser Depanelling Redefines PCB Manufacturing MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

Sponsor AEC Grade-0 and MSL Level-1 Conductive Paste & Film Adhesives 240° Tg and ultra-high thermal stability for AEC Grade-0 applications. Proven rapid and snap curing die-attach paste for ultimate productivity. AI Technology, Inc.

New Rumors Suggest A Smartphone With A 9,000 mAh Battery Could Be On Its Way Leaks suggest a new flagship smartphone with a groundbreaking 9,000 mAh battery is in testing, surpassing current market leaders. Likely from a Chinese brand and powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the device could redefine battery longevity in premium smartphones. BGR

Nvidia, Microsoft, xAI and BlackRock part of $40 billion deal for Aligned Data Centers Nvidia, Microsoft, BlackRock, and Elon Musk's xAI are leading a $40 billion consortium to acquire Aligned Data Centers, aiming to boost AI infrastructure across the Americas. The deal, AIP's first, positions the group to deploy $30 billion in equity. CNBC

Sponsor EZ-FLO High Precision Ceramic Dispense Tips The ceramic molding process allows for smaller more precise inner diameters with a glass-like finish, giving you the ultimate control. Learn more. DL Technology

Honor reveals a new smartphone with a fold-out robotic camera arm Chinese smartphone maker Honor announced a "robot phone" with a camera that folds out via a robotic arm, integrating AI for photography and daily tasks. The company will reveal full details at Mobile World Congress next year. CNBC

Google Open-Sources NPU IP, Synaptics Implements It Google Research has open-sourced its Coral NPU IP to accelerate edge AI by reducing fragmentation and improving security. Synaptics is first to integrate it into its Astra SL2610 IoT SoCs, promoting an open, RISC-V–based ecosystem for scalable, secure edge AI development. EE Times

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This New Chip Is Just a Few Atoms Thick and Could Change Everything About Computers Engineers at Fudan University created the world's first fully functional memory chip built from atom-thin 2D materials and integrated with silicon circuits. Their ATOM2CHIP process enables faster, low-power flash memory with a 94.3% yield, surpassing silicon's scaling limits. ZME Science

How Roomba Got Its Vacuum In 2001, iRobot engineers learned through focus groups that consumers prioritized suction over sweeping. They added a compact, low-power vacuum to the Roomba prototype, overcoming design hurdles and securing the robot's commercial success through performance and innovation. IEEE Spectrum

Sponsor Affordable Excellence - iS6052 AOI The latest addition to Viscom's esteemed lineup of AOI systems. This new system offers a compelling option for manufacturers looking to enhance their PCB inspection processes. Viscom

Voids in SMT Solder Joints – Trends in Automotive Electronics There is a need for a more extensive coverage of voiding in standards where customer specifications often contain requirements for voiding in SMT solder joints. Circuit Insight - Production Floor

Faster, Smaller AI Model Found for Image Geolocation Researchers at China University of Petroleum (East China) created a compact AI model that links street-level and aerial images with 97% accuracy. Using deep cross-view hashing, it runs over twice as fast and is three times more memory-efficient than current geolocation systems. IEEE Spectrum

Effects of Mixing Solder Sphere Alloys with Bismuth-Based Pastes In this paper, the effect of mixing solder sphere alloys with Bi-based solder pastes on the component reliability in accelerated thermal cycling is studied. Circuit Insight - Materials Tech

Sponsor Inline Automatic X-Ray Inspection: TruView™ Verus TruView™ Verus is a high-resolution inline AXI system offering advanced 2D, 2.5D, and 3D imaging to detect defects in electronic assemblies with exceptional accuracy and speed. Creative Electron

A guide to the $1 trillion-worth of AI deals between OpenAI, Nvidia and others OpenAI has struck nearly $1 trillion in AI infrastructure deals this year, partnering with Oracle, CoreWeave, Broadcom, and SoftBank, backed by major investments from Nvidia and Microsoft. While critics warn of an AI bubble, industry leaders call it essential infrastructure expansion. CNBC

Teaching AI to Predict What Cells Will Look Like Before Running Any Experiments Researchers at MBZUAI unveiled MorphDiff, a diffusion model that predicts cellular morphology after genetic or drug changes using only gene expression data. Published in Nature Communications, it produces microscopy-quality images, speeding biological discovery. IEEE Spectrum

Memory Safety Will Be Key to Tackle Fundamental Cyber Security The U.K.'s Digital Security by Design initiative showcased CHERI, a memory-safe hardware technology, in London. Experts praised its cybersecurity potential but noted adoption challenges. With 160+ companies involved, standardizing memory safety remains a key priority. EE Times