The worldwide wearables market continued its upward trajectory in both the fourth quarter (4Q17) and full year 2017 with total shipment volumes reaching new records. Moreover, thanks to a surge in smartwatch shipment volumes, Apple moved past competitors Fitbit and Xiaomi to claim overall leadership for both the quarter and the year. According to data…
Global semiconductor spending reached a five-year high in 2017, up 17 percent from last year, according to the latest research from IHS Markit. Industry watchers agree the increase in OEM spending was significantly impacted by the supply shortage and higher prices of memory devices, particularly DRAM and NAND flash, together with strong demand from data…
Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. boosted their semiconductor spend in 2017, extending their lead as the top two semiconductor buyers in 2017, according to Gartner Inc.’s latest spending report. Together, the companies account for 19.5 percent of the total global market, spending $81.8 billion on semiconductors last year. This is up from more than $20…
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) today confirmed it has received a decision from the European Commission (EC) relating to an expired agreement between Qualcomm and Apple Inc., which was in effect from 2011 through 2016, for the pricing of modem chips. The EC alleges that certain provisions of this agreement were in violation of European Union competition…
Dialog Semiconductor plc (XETRA:DLG) confirms that it continues to supply Apple Inc., its largest customer, with customized power management integrated circuits (PMICs) across a range of platforms without material change to its ongoing business relationship. This is reflected in continuing design wins and new design engagements and opportunities. Although Dialog expects to remain Apple’s main…
Although the U.S. has pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, many U.S. companies are redoubling their efforts to reduce carbon emissions, which are linked to global warming. Procurement professionals can play a leading role in such efforts, experts say. Sourcing managers are already playing a key role in reducing the carbon footprint through sustainable…
Due to rising demand for OLED displays in smartphones and high-end flat panel TVs, panel manufacturers are making bigger investments in new OLED display fab construction, according to market research firm IHS Markit. This investment is expected to increase global production capacity of AMOLED panels — including both red-green-blue (RGB) OLED and white OLED (WOLED)…
The average grade of 17 leading consumer electronics companies evaluated by Greenpeace USA on sustainable manufacturing and design of IT products was a D+. Fairphone ranked the best overall with a B, followed by Apple with a B-, and Dell and HP both with a C+. The remaining manufacturers including Samsung, Huawei and Amazon scored…
Electronics OEMs count supply chain risks as the most troubling set of challenges their businesses face, ahead of global economic malaise and geo-political issues. Problems such as inaccurate forecasts, sourcing constraints, supplier consolidation, pricing fluctuations, inventory management problems and the negative effects of natural disasters on shipping, procurement and logistics top the list of operating…
Verticalization – or the more modern version of it – is in vogue again and its embrace by the biggest and most powerful OEMs is roiling the electronics industry as the opportunities and sizes of markets served by semiconductor makers, component distributors and software developers shrink further, forcing a re-evaluation of their roles, offerings and…