I rarely get to talk to buyers, and that's too bad. They're busy, I’m busy, and buyers are rarely vetted by their companies to talk to the press. At any rate, I had an opportunity this week that provided some surprising insights into a buyer's typical day. First of all, I'm not trashing any particular…
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What's the winning business proposition in today's outsourced electronics manufacturing business? Surprisingly, the answer is not cost, leverage, or the aggregation of supply and demand, three attributes often cited as principal virtues by outsourced manufacturing firms. Instead, in our view, the key factor for success in the current business environment for outsourced manufacturing is speed…
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I’ve always enjoyed hearing about judges who use unusual remedies to make a point. One well-publicized case involved sentencing some kids who vandalized veterans’ graves to watch the movie Saving Private Ryan. {complink 379|Apple Inc.} is facing one such sentence in the UK: a judge is requiring that Apple publish a notice on its Website…
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The global economic weakness will put a dent in semiconductor sales this year but not enough to drive the industry into negative growth, according to the latest numbers from IDC. The research firm projects the market will expand at a moderate 4.6 percent in 2012 followed by another single-digit jump in 2013 when it will…
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When purchasing goes into action, it goes to its Tier 1 suppliers first. Tier 1 is not always a function of size as much as it is a rating of performance history. Nothing is more irksome to a buyer than being told a component is available and then discovering that is not true. “Yes, we…
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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) today announced first quarter fiscal 2013 sales of $582.8 million, up 4% sequentially and down 5% from the first quarter of the prior fiscal year. First quarter fiscal 2013 net income was $129.8 million, or $0.47 per diluted share. The full release can be viewed at Xilinx
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The quarterly results announced by {complink 2657|Intel Corp.} on Tuesday contained some bad news about softening PC demand in developing economies, yet the equity market strengthened today partly because investors felt the company's financial numbers and outlook were not as dire as initially assumed. In fact, even Intel's share price received a nice bump in…
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THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry’s largest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, today announced the expansion of CUI’s medical power supply offering to include high-efficiency external medical power supplies and 5 & 10 W encapsulated AC/DC medical power supplies. CUI’s new…
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WILMINGTON, Mass. — Heilind Electronics, the largest distributor of interconnect products in North America, is now stocking TE Connectivity's innovative Ocean series of lead wire applicators. The Ocean applicator combines the best features of TE's HDM, HDI and System III applicators while adding several customer-suggested enhancements. The Ocean series of applicators utilizes one applicator platform…
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The technology for printed electronics has been around for a long time, yet this very practical technology hasn’t exactly taken off. The method, which adds extremely thin layers of materials at a time, is generally used for small electronics, such as hearing aids, or 3D models. One of the reasons the method has lagged is…
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