Editor’s note: Following the news of possible tariffs on goods imported from Mexico – and the ongoing trade war with China — EPSNews’ sister publication EBN reached out to a few friends and colleagues from the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) world to find out what they and their customers think of this thorny issue. This…
Buyers probably won’t see a shakeup in the distribution channel as Infineon Technologies embarks on its $10 billion acquisition of Cypress Semiconductors. Both chip companies sell through global volume distributors Arrow Electronics Inc., Avnet Inc. and Future Electronics Inc. They also have Digi-Key, Mouser and Newark in common, small-volume (or “catalog”) distributors that cater to…
Growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in May slowed to its weakest pace in more than two years as purchasing managers raised concerns about a trade war between the U.S. and China, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM’s monthly factory index, the PMI, registered 52.1 percent in May, a 0.7 percent decrease from…
Editor’s note on Special Project U.S.-China Trade War Damages Done: A permanent trade war with China has already thrust the supply chain in a mad scramble. Procurement costs have increased; partnerships have been severed; and companies have been forced to relocate manufacturing. Still, some companies see the conflict as a path toward differentiation President Trump’s…
A gauge of U.S. factory activity topped estimates in March, rebounding from a two-year low on strength in employment, new orders and manufacturing production. The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI reached 55.3 percent in March, a 1.1 percent increase from the prior month. Any number above 50 indicates manufacturing expansion. March made up for ground…
Even as the electronics industry roared through 2017 and 2018, manufacturers bemoaned a lack of skilled labor. It’s been a recurrent theme in the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly factory index, and now the European Union (EU) fears its workforce will be stressed as electronics employment grows. A shortage of skilled workers is the industry’s…
This article by our global managing editor Rich Quinnell is part of AspenCore Media’s Special Project on ‘Agriculture Tech,’ in which we look at how IoT, analytics, and sensor technologies are bringing fundamental change to farming and food production. Two powerful trends – the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics – are generating lots…
Component shortages always prompt OEMs and EMS providers to seek alternative sources. Periods of scarcity also exacerbate the flow of counterfeit devices into the electronics supply chain. The extent of this problem remains an unknown as incidents of counterfeits are under-reported. But there are estimates: The counterfeit semiconductor market has reached $75 billion according to Industry…
U.S. manufacturers may be facing a bumpy ride in Q1 as the nation’s factory activity cooled in February. New orders, production and employment all declined from January levels, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), and the PMI dropped 2.4 percentage points to 54.2 percent. As long as the PMI remains above 50, the manufacturing industry continues to expand. “We are still in the…
Editor’s Note: This is the first of two articles examining the impact of tariffs — positive and negative–on the electronics industry. It feels like the U.S.-China tariff-and-trade war has been waging so long we’ve forgotten how it started, but its goals remain the same. The Trump administration is pressuring China to change its behavior toward…