Optimism in the electronics market is surging, according to ECIA, bolstering data from a national manufacturing index that reached a 37-year high in March. The ECIA’s Electronic Component Sales Trend (ECST) monthly survey, which assesses month-to-month sales growth sentiment, leapt up between 26 and 27 points in component and end-market measures from February to March.…
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a series examining the electronics industry’s response to the global Covid-19 pandemic. Going digital Electronics companies are adjusting their business strategies in the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Hand in hand with a push for efficiency is a greater willingness to invest in and work toward…
Demand remains high for U.S.- made products even as manufacturers contend with price increases, labor shortages and supply constraints. The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI reached a three-year high in February to 60.8, an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the January reading. Signs for future demand remain strong, but supply chain pressures are unlikely…
While 2020 is behind us, the continuing global pandemic has taught a host of supply chain lessons, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of electronics suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers. In the turn of a calendar year, this traditional industry has gone from embracing the way it’s always been done to looking at new ways of…
As semiconductors become scarce in 2021, companies in the electronics supply chain are seeking better visibility into long-term chip demand. Two research reports shed some light on why visibility, in general, is so hard to achieve. More than half the companies recently surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) rely on their own data for…
Unsurprisingly, the electronics industry is reacting favorably to President Biden’s executive order to review critical U.S. supply chains. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the United States’ dependence on foreign supplies including semiconductors and materials used in PPE, medical tests and pharmaceuticals. Reliance on foreign sources is not a new issue in electronics but tariffs, the China-U.S.…
Customer experience matters more than ever because today’s consumers expect greater responsiveness in their daily lives. A much-quoted study by experience management services firm Walker Information predicted that by the end of 2020, customer experience will have overtaken price and product as the key brand differentiator. This reality also is reflected in expectations in the…
The snowstorms in Texas have led to a 133-car pileup, nearly a half-million without power, and millions in the state under boil-water notices. The storms’ impact on semiconductor fabrication plants in the Lone Star state has also received attention. “The storm-related power outages in Texas could have a mind-blowing impact on fabs and, in turn,…
As CEOs of the leading chip companies signed a letter to U.S. President Biden urging him to prioritize funding for semiconductor manufacturing and research, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki said late last week in a press briefing that industry should expect an executive order to be signed within weeks. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) board…
In recent years, decreasing vehicle costs and more options from car manufacturers have driven a steady increase in electric vehicle (EV) sales. With about 97 percent of battery charging taking place at work or at home, drivers of electric cars willing to accept that they may need to charge up over lunch when traveling longer…