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…
Editor’s note: The IoT and the industrial IoT (IIoT) provide the capability for all stakeholders in the electronics supply chain to seamlessly connect and share critical data. Visibility from the moment a component begins production through its end-of-life is possible through these leading-edge applications. But there are also real dangers to the networks that link supply…
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…
Following a slight cool-down period in July, the nation’s factory activity is running hot. The Institute for Supply Management’s domestic production index, the PMI, grew by 3.2 percentage points to reach 61.3 in August. Any number above 50 indicates expansion. Moreover, the ISM’s leading sub-indexes, new orders and production, surged. New orders registered 65.1 percent, an…
Electronic component supplies are only going to get tighter as 2018 approaches calendar Q4. Demand remains at or above normal levels in the automotive, IoT, and industrial markets; capacity ramp-up may not bear fruit until the end of the year or 2019; and tariffs are likely to unravel an already-stressed supply chain. Investment firms Morgan…
AspenCore Media’s Special Project on Apple’s $1 trillion climb takes a look back at Apple’s business, its strategy to go vertical, and its supply chain. On a cross-Atlantic flight in 2008, I happened to sit down next to Kirk Kirkpatrick, a tech executive who’d worked for Apple early in his career. After hours of…
Manufacturers of long-lifecycle products have been trying to “manage” component obsolescence for decades. The decision to end a device’s useful life (EOL) is solely in the hands of original component manufacturers (OCMs). Therefore, equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have been largely forced into a reactive, rather than proactive, stance in terms of obsolescence management. The challenges have…
Editor’s note: Apple hit a market cap of $1 trillion on August 2. How’d they do that? While everybody else in the electronics industry is talking about this extraordinary milestone, Apple is staying mum when it comes to those who supply chips and components to Apple. As part of our Special Project on ‘Apple’s $1 Trillion Climb’…
IP&E expert TTI Inc. raised a few eyebrows when it acquired semiconductor specialty distributor Symmetry Electronics in July of 2017. The announcement of TTI’s intent to acquire RF/microwave expert RFMW Ltd. raised a few more. Until 2017, TTI focused exclusively on interconnect, passive and electromechanical (IP&E) components. Its expertise in these products has sustained TTI…
Editor’s Note: Welcome to AspenCore’s Special Project on Focus on Taiwan, Part 2. Offered in the form of an eBook, this special project provides an in-depth look at Taiwan. We explored the topic from multiple angles including the business, technology, and economy. The ascension of mainland China as a manufacturing powerhouse has been both a blessing…