Hello,

I hope you all enjoyed a festive holiday season and are looking ahead to 2026 with enthusiasm and optimism.

Reflecting on 2025, it was a year marked by both challenges and opportunities. The early months were marked by global uncertainty, particularly in the manufacturing sector, as increased import tariffs on products entering North America created ripples across industries. However, as the year progressed, stability returned, and many sectors resumed more typical investment patterns.

We saw a clear market recovery in aerospace & defense, new space, eVTOL, and scientific research, all of which played a leading role in the upturn. The automotive sector has remained active, although there has been a noticeable slowdown in parts of Europe—particularly within the EV market.

Despite the early-year uncertainty, 2025 was a very active year for us. We continued to invest heavily in our global engineering teams and brought several key milestone products to market.

Among the highlights:

A new 12-slot, full-hybrid 2U chassis:

Built on our LXI platform, this chassis features field-replaceable controller and power supply units, enabling customers to house up to 24 of our 3U modules—alongside selected third-party devices—in the same space traditionally occupied by a 4U PXI system.

The PXI/PXIe 10-Gigabit T1 FIU switch:

A world-first for us, this MEMS-based switch makes fault testing of the latest automotive Ethernet standards more cost-effective and accessible. This launch was supported by a range of additional product enhancements across the portfolio. 

The largest BRIC switch topology in our history: Designed for a large-scale quantum computing research project, this system supports an exceptionally high number of crosspoints and sets the stage for future applications requiring advanced connectivity and complexity. 

The second half of 2025 brought renewed confidence across the industry, as reflected in the energy and engagement at global trade shows. In December, we celebrated the 10-year anniversary of our Chinese office in Beijing. The event marked our growth and commitment to supporting customers in the region, and we are excited to further strengthen these partnerships in 2026.

So, what does 2026 hold? We have an exciting announcement planned for March that we’re very much looking forward to sharing with you. With a positive outlook for the year ahead, I’ll leave you with that teaser—and I look forward to catching up with many of you in person at global trade shows and events throughout the year.

Here’s to a successful 2026!

Best Regards,

Joe

Joe Woodford

Group Director

Global Sales and Marketing

www.pickeringtest.com