Lead-Free Makes Major Impact on SMT Cleaning Equipment Market, says Frost & Sullivan
13 March 2007
The year 2005 marked a turning point in the SMT cleaning equipment market as several electronic assemblers began complying with the legislation on lead-free manufacturing, says Frost & Sullivan in their report “World SMT Cleaning Equipment Markets”. This helped revitalize the stagnating market and opened up new opportunities for many equipment vendors.
Since lead-free manufacturing is being pushed by the Restriction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS) directive, lower cost of ownership is another factor in the lead-free environment that is driving the cleaning equipment market, remarks the analyst.
Assemblers are always looking for ways to reduce the overall cost of ownership because previous methods of cleaning were too costly with lead free. This led many assemblers to invest in new equipment before the 2006 deadline on lead-free manufacturing. The impact of this driver is expected to be high throughout the forecast period.
