Cree divests LED business to focus on SiC and GaN devices
Cree has announced the sale of its LED products business unit to Smart Global Holdings for up to $300 million.
Study: New Product Introductions Stalled by Covid-19
The electronics supply chain relies on new product introductions (NPI) to drive both innovation and sales. More than half (53 percent) of electronics industry product launches have been delayed or cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Dimensional Research study commissioned by Supplyframe. Covid-19 also has led to increased component costs, the need…
U.S. Supply Execs Prepare Grim Forecast for 2020
U.S. purchasing and supply executives expect the nation’s economic downturn will continue for the rest of the year as the Covid-19 pandemic obscures forecasts in the manufacturing sector. Factory revenue is expected to drop 10.3 percent in 2020 — down 15.1 percent from December 2019 forecasts. The manufacturing and services sectors are both signaling contraction…
ISM: U.S. Factory Index Slides to 2009 Levels
U.S. factory output in April accelerated its slide into contraction, falling to levels not seen since 2009. The Institute Supply Management’s (ISM) PMI dropped 7.6 percent — from 49.1 in March to 41.5. Any reading above 50 indicates growth; below 50 signifies contraction. In the computer and electronics segment, one executive reported a 30 percent…
ECIAauthorized Expands to Non-Association Members
For the past six months, the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) has been in a state of flux. For the procurement community, that became evident though changes to ECIAauthorized, the association’s inventory-aggregation site. In October, some of ECIA’s biggest members – global distributors Arrow Electronics Inc., Avnet Inc. and Electrocomponents plc—left the trade association to…
Waymo Driver Outlines Component-Rich Robocar
Waymo recently released via Youtube a lecture on “Waymo Driver,” the company’s fifth-generation robocar platform. Presented by YooJung Ahn, head of design at Waymo, the video clip shares the new platform’s basic design ideas. Ultimately, the trick that caught many industry observers’ eyes about the latest robocar was Waymo’s liberal use of various sensors, including…
Why the DPA Won’t Cure Covid-19’s Supply Shortages
All over the world, healthcare workers face a critical supply shortage of personal protection equipment (PPE) which prevents cross-contamination between caregivers and patients. Life-saving ventilators are in short supply. It’s inconceivable that in 2020, the richest country in the world cannot produce enough masks, gowns, shields and equipment in response to the Covid-19 pandemic for…
Covid-19 & Energy Drive U.S. Factory Activity into Contraction
The Covid-19 pandemic and oil-market volatility drove the U.S. manufacturing index back into contraction territory in March, as the Institute for Supply Management’s PMI fell to 49.1 from 50.1 the prior month. With 50.0 as the line of demarcation between contraction and growth, new orders at 42.2 percent and employment, at 43.8, are at the…
Covid-19 Impacts MLCC, Resistor, Smartphone and 5G Supplies
Editor’s note: Our colleagues in China, Taiwan and other regions in Southeast Asia continue to report, from the ground, on the coronavirus’s impact on the electronics industry. ESMChina shared the following update. At least 30 countries around the world have declared a state of emergency, according to EPSNews sister publication ESMChina, as Covid-19 continues to…
AI & Automation Aid Supply Chain in Wake of Covid-19
The reality of Covid-19 has settled into the electronics supply chain as shipment delays, labor shortages and flight cancellations have upended global logistics. Although the tech industry has improved supply chain resilience, new technologies are gaining traction as the coronavirus spreads. The previous weeks have focused on Chinese supply as manufacturing slowly recovered across the…