18 MAY 2026 – The go-to trade fair for key players in the electronics industry: Focus on PCB – From Design to Assembly has concluded its fifth edition with a clear success: more visitors, more exhibitors, more valuable content, and an audience visiting Vicenza specifically to do business.
Attendance figures for the two-day event dedicated to the world of printed circuit boards, held on 13 and 14 May at the Fiera di Vicenza, show a 10% increase compared to 2025.
A figure that is all the more striking when one considers the context: rising costs, a packed calendar of industry events, and international travel that remains challenging. Yet Vicenza has seen a significant upturn.
Professional visitors with a clear objective
The typical profile of a Focus on PCB visitor is that of a professional with a clear objective: engineers, designers, procurement managers, technical directors and product managers, all seeking meaningful connections and concrete opportunities, such as solutions, suppliers and technologies. This is the value that exhibitors and sponsors continue to recognise in the event: a select audience with decision-making power and a genuine intention to purchase.
The international component attracted visitors from around thirty European and non-European countries, with Germany, the United Kingdom and Slovenia leading the way in terms of attendance
The best of the European PCB industry on display in Vicenza
On the exhibitor front, Focus on PCB attracted 155 companies from 17 countries, bringing the best in technology for the production and design of printed circuit boards to Vicenza.
And the international component is growing: foreign exhibitors have risen from 22% in 2025 to 26.5% this year, a sign that Focus on PCB is expanding its reach beyond Italy’s borders.
Danny D'Alessandro, Managing Director of NürnbergMesse Italia, emphasised the importance of the event, which is unique in the European trade fair landscape: “Focus on PCB demonstrates the resilience of the European and Italian electronics sector, and aims to offer visitors and industry professionals a high-value-added platform capable of fostering dialogue and connections among all players in the European electronics supply chain”.
Artificial intelligence, skills shortages and supply chain resilience are key topics in the global conversation for the electronics industry, which have found a space for concrete discussion in Vicenza, extending beyond the exhibition floor.
Europe’s PCB sector meets in Vicenza: supply chain, geopolitics, investment
On 14 May, the fair hosted a discussion set to leave its mark. Three of the most authoritative figures in the European supply chain took their seats at the round table ‘Building a resilient electronics ecosystem: necessary strategies, investments and policies’: Alison James, Executive Director of the Global Electronics Association Europe; Thomas Michels, Vice-President of EIPC and CEO of ILFA; and Cosimo Musca, President of ANIE Componenti Elettronici.
The issue is more urgent than ever: how to strengthen the European PCB supply chain in a geopolitical context that has made dependence on Asia not just a cost issue, but one of strategic security. What policy levers exist? What investments are needed? Where is the battle for the Old Continent’s technological autonomy being fought? Focus on PCB has brought together institutions, industry and policy-makers around the same table for a conversation that few European platforms manage to facilitate, confirming that the response to the sector’s major challenges necessarily depends on coordination between stakeholders, not on the strategies of individual companies.
Innovations looking to the future: training, design, employment
This edition introduced three initiatives that broaden the fair’s scope beyond mere exhibition business:
- HUB FARE IMPRESA with Gi Group and weprosperitY: a space dedicated to bringing together companies and industry professionals, with a focus on the most sought-after skills in the electronics supply chain;
- "Beyond the PCB" exhibition: an exhibition itinerary designed to showcase printed circuit board design as a discipline straddling aesthetics and engineering;
- Focus on LAB: the educational workshop at the fair with students from the Politecnico di Milano, a concrete example of dialogue with the academic world and investment in the skills of tomorrow.
Champion for the fourth time: Manicone heads to the World Championships in Munich
There is one competition at Focus on PCB that keeps visitors on the edge of their seats every year: the IPC Hand Soldering Competition, the only Italian leg of the international hand soldering competition organised by the Global Electronics Association. And in 2026, the winner is once again Alessandro Manicone of Elettronica GF, who has clinched the title for the fourth consecutive time.
Manicone will represent Italy at the World Championships in Munich, during the electronica trade fair in November 2026. Last year he finished fourth, demonstrating the excellence of Italian professionals in the electronics sector.
This year, the competition has been extended for the first time to include wiring, opening the contest to a further technical specialism that is increasingly in demand by the market. A clear signal: in a sector where the integration of diverse skills is becoming increasingly central, competitions too must evolve
FOCUS ON PCB 2027
The date has already been set for next year: 21 and 22 April 2027 are the dates for the next edition of Focus on PCB, once again in Vicenza at the IEG Exhibition Centre
Daniele Toni