Editor’s note: The most ubiquitous components in any electronics design – interconnects, passives and electromechanical (IP&E) devices – are in the midst of an unprecedented supply shortage. What distinguishes this scarcity from others is the broad base of markets that are desperate for IP&E. OEMs are facing idle production lines while they wait for devices…
Electronics executives and industry experts are all over the map regarding the impact of U.S. and China tariffs on component supplies, OCMs, distributors and their customers. One thing is crystal clear – tariffs, or “taxes,” in one form or another are going to be passed on to buyers. Research and investment firm Morgan Stanley projects…
Electronics component shortages are now so severe that some OEMs believe their growth for 2018 could be stymied if they are unable to get parts. “We have not missed deliveries yet, but we are on the edge,” said George Whittier, COO at manufacturing and engineering services provider The Morey Corp. “Shutting down one of our…
Purchasing managers for the manufacturing industries in the U.S. expect growth will continue throughout the remainder of 2018. Sixty-two percent of the respondents to the Institute For Supply Management’s Semiannual Economic Forecast expect their revenue in 2018 will be 11.6 percent higher than in 2017; the industry will average 6.6 percent growth. In fact, every…
For decades, U.S.-based electronic component distributors’ global growth strategy was acquisition. Beginning with the EU, American distributors acquired foreign competitors to establish themselves in a geographic market. The same is true for Asia-Pacific, and acquisitions there will likely continue. For foreign distributors entering the Americas the trend has been different. While there have been acquisitions—by…
Although the electronics supply chain has been dancing around the issue of double ordering for several quarters, a recent Morgan Stanley report finds there’s been a “significant uptick” in double ordering that has extended component lead times even further. Evidence of double ordering also has analysts questioning the sustainability of the current component-demand upcycle. “To…
Component shortages are not just about increased demand. Any number of factors – production capacity, supply chain disruptions, obsolescence and technology migration – can contribute to product scarcity. For 2017 and 2018, supplier merger and acquisition (M&A) activity can be added to the causation list. Semiconductor and tech mergers reached an all-time high in 2016 and formed…
There’s no short-term relief ahead for electronics manufacturers that are scrambling for components. Tight supplies of capacitors and resistors are expected to last into mid-2018—longer than industry experts expected. The dreaded words “allocation” and “double-ordering” are coming up more frequently, meaning OEMs and EMS providers are facing long-term sourcing challenges. Thick- and thin-film chip resistor…
Memory components continue to be the most volatile segment in the supply chain in October, according to Avnet’s most recent Market & Technology Trends report. Similar to prior months, both memory prices and lead times continue to increase. Across the market, overall memory availability is running 6 weeks to allocation, according to Avnet. DDR-3 SDRAM…
Spot prices for DRAMs have shot up 19 percent since a recent fire at a SK Hynix plant in China halted production at the industry’s second-largest memory supplier’s facility but fears of “allocation” – one of the most dreaded words in the purchasing community – will eventually prove unfounded. The SK Hynix plant shutdown sparked…