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The PCBs that will power the cars of the future
With more than 40 years of experience in manufacturing high-performance, high-quality, yet competitively priced, printed circuit boards, Meiko is poised to put itself in the driving seat of the new IoT and AIdriven era of automotives.
Over the past few decades, electronics has increasingly meshed with mechanics in the automobile industry. As technology has advanced, printed circuit boards (PCBs) have become more prominent components of the modern automobile. Offering drivers an enhanced driving experience and greater safety, PCBs are essential to the operation of everything from the windshield wiper, headlights, the car stereo and heads-up display, to the assisted breaking system (ABS), electronic power steering (EPS), electronic ignition system and GPS.
As cars continue to get ‘smarter’, greener and more connected over the coming decades, adopting AI, IoT and remote sensor technologies, the demand for high-performance, highly reliable and competively priced automotive PCBs is set to grow rapidly. This means big opportunities going forward for the world’s PCB manufacturers, who have recently been impacted by stagnation in the saturated mobile phone market and continuous decline in the PC market.
One company aiming to pioneer PCB technology in the next-generation automobile is Japan’s Meiko. Since its establishment in 1975, Meiko has developed state-of-theart PCBs for a range of industries, including automotive, consumer electronics, telecommunications infrastructure, offi ce equipment, home appliances and robotics.
Meiko produces PCBs used in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, such as EPS, ABS, engine electronic control units, LED headlamps and infra-red cameras. With a very stringent quality standard already defied for PCBs used in passenger vehicles, Meiko has cultivated extremely reliable technologies over the years, building trust since the 1980s based on its experience and partnerships with the world’s largest automakers.
Going forward the company is focusing on combining its wideranging technological strengths in automobile PCBs, Smartphone PCBs and telecommunications PCBs, to develop technology that will power the cars of tomorrow, including autonomous vehicles.
"Our car accessories are used by Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and also by Volkswagen and BMW in Europe. In comparison to smartphones, car accessories haven’t drastically diversifi ed. However, with the appearance of innovative technologies such as self-driving cars, IoT and more, this will most likely change," says Meiko’s president and CEO, Mr. Yuichiro Naya.
"In the near future, automóviles will grow more computerized, so the use of our products will naturally increase. We are currently developing solutions to assist smart cameras, which detect objects, as well as radars for automatic operations."
"We believe autonomous driving is a fi eld poised to grow. While Europe has acquired a head start in this field, I believe that Japan will soon catch back up thanks to its investments. Because IoT sensors are necessary for autodriving, I believe it represents great potential for Meiko."
Meiko entered the PCB market for both automobiles and smartphones at an early stage. Its accumulated experience and know-how has enabled it to produce high-performance, highquality PCBs that are not only superior to many of its competitors’, but also reasonably priced. Mr. Naya hopes to continue to supply such products in the future, as we enter the new era of the automobile driven by IoT, AI and sensor technology.
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