About a decade ago, when new supply chain acronyms were created on an almost daily basis, SCF started finding its way into conversations. SCF, which stood for Supply Chain Finance, was discussed as a workable way to pay for goods as they moved through the supply chain, injecting much-needed capital into specific buyer-supplier relationships. Banks,…
{complink 2657|Intel Corp.} on Tuesday announced stronger than expected third quarter results with sales and profits exceeding analysts' consensus estimates on record sales of microprocessors. The company's solid financial performance helped to, at least temporarily, dispel fears in the electronics industry that tablet PCs and smartphones were rapidly encroaching into and eroding sales of notebook…
The global economy continues to founder, casting a pall on the outlook for the year ahead, but don't for a moment think that the electronics equipment market is about to enter a period of severe contraction. Demand for information technology products and especially electronics — from both consumer and corporate buyers — will continue to…
Silicon Valley startups fueled growth of the technology industry, and it would be unfair to say that day is over. However, a Wall Street Journal report has touched off a debate about the latest spate of startups, many of which are reportedly running out of money. The Journal reported yesterday that startups are having a…
I've been at odds for a while over a rule in pro football (in the US, that's grid football) that allows a coach to challenge a ruling made on the field. In the heat of the moment, a ref makes a call based on the best information he has at the time. Technology — and,…
When a natural disaster hit Japan back in March, it would have been hard to predict the recovery would come from an economic disaster six months later — and halfway around the world. That disaster was the European financial crisis. Part of the fallout from the apparent bankruptcy of Greece, and the teetering economies of…
IHS just released a troubling report about the high level of semiconductor inventory piling up in the electronics supply chain. According to the report, days of inventory (DOI) held by chip companies at the end of the second quarter was an unusually high 83.4 days. That's above the level seen right before the economic meltdown…
Every once in a while in this space, we talk about places turning heads with their budding entrepreneurial communities and technological innovations. Lately, Estonia is popping up on the radar screen. Estonia, a Northern European country with the highest GDP per person among former Soviet republics, is earning a reputation as a startup country and…
There's no better time to point out that {complink 379|Apple Inc.} is infallible than the day everyone else is queuing up to applaud the company's rollout of another great product. Today, the world's most successful company by market value will unveil an update to its smartphone — that's the expectation, anyway. Orders for the iPhone…
Without question, most electronics manufacturers and parts vendors have all been solicited for their excess inventories by multiple entities, many of them using the same tired “shtick” in their approach. Along those same lines, we've all received offers on our excess inventory — whether it is for an entire lot or a specific part —…