U.S. government approval of two trade deals this week has drawn favorable response from the electronics industry. Trade organizations applaud the USMCA agreement and characterize a “phase one” deal with China as a good first step. Here’s what the IPC said: “The electronics manufacturing industry welcomes the U.S.-China “phase one” trade deal being signed in…
The U.S. manufacturing index in December fell to its lowest point in a decade as new orders, production and employment again declined. Reports of a phase-one trade deal between the U.S and China had no immediate impact on the PMI, which dropped 0.9 percent last month to 47.2. This is the fifth straight month of…
The electronics supply chain, in one year, saw a level of disruption that once took decades to achieve. The 1990s were known for frenetic M&A activity in the channel; 2019 will be marked by breakups. In one fell swoop, a major chipmaker dropped six of its channel partners. Global distributors decided to form their own…
The electronics industry is enjoying a short-term reprieve from new U.S. tariffs as the Trump administration delayed the imposition of 15 percent duties on $156 billion worth of Chinese goods, including smart phones, computers and other consumer electronics. While the move may boost holiday-related consumer sales, the 25 percent tariffs on a separate $250 billion…
Supplier realignment always causes stress in the electronics supply chain — but the past six weeks has moved the needle to “anxiety.” In early October, chip maker Texas Instruments announced it was dropping six of its distributors — including Avnet Inc., WPG and WT Microelectronics — by the end of 2020. Within the past week…
If you’re concerned about tariffs and the ongoing trade war with China, you’re not alone. Almost every U.S. OEM is feeling the same pressure, wondering if China is a viable manufacturing location for the future, while stressing over how to quickly select and qualify new suppliers in the U.S. and still get competitive pricing. That’s…
Global procurement professionals are facing more challenges than ever — tariffs, trade wars, environmental regulations and patent/IP protection. Fortunately, they are up to the task. Worldwide, electronics purchasing managers have an average of 16 years on the job, according to EPSNews’/Aspencore’s first global procurement study. They work more than 40 hours a week; spend a…
U.S. factory activity contracted for the third straight month in October as trade issues, the GM strike and global economic uncertainty plagued the market. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index registered 48.3 last month, up slightly from a 10-year low of 47.8 in September. New orders, employment and inventories all rose from September but…
Xilinx Inc. is planning a future that does not include Huawei Technologies, CEO Victor Peng told analysts last week. The chip maker has not received the necessary approvals to ship products to the Chinese networking giant, which the U.S. government has deemed a security risk. Xilinx shipped $50 million worth of product to Huawei in…
Expectations for an upturn in electronics component demand have been pushed out to the second half of 2020, and the road to recovery passes directly through global trade policy, leading analysts say. The outlook for Q4 is grim as component demand deteriorates further, Morgan Stanley said in its Q3 distribution survey. “The narrative of a…