James Carbone 
Fifth-generation wireless technology’s speed and low latency will enable new applications and increase component demand. Industrial, defense and aerospace and communications have always been important customer segments for electronics distributors, but technologies such as 5G, alternative energy, and artificial intelligence will likely have a significant impact on distribution over the next five years. Those technologies … Read more
EMS providers say while the pandemic slowed production of equipment last year, demand is recovering and single-digit growth for many contract manufacturers is possible. Electronic manufacturing services providers say they are optimistic that they will grow business over the next five years because of rising demand from companies making products for alternative and clean energy, … Read more
Expect a seller’s market for power management integrated circuits for the rest of the year because of strong demand and limited production capacity. A double-digit increase in unit demand, tight supply and higher prices will result in the worldwide power management integrated circuit (PMIC) growing 19 per cent this year. PMIC unit demand will rise … Read more
Some distributors say their sales to the automotive supply chain are rising because of semiconductor shortages, rising electronic content in cars and the trend towards electric vehicles. Automotive represents a small percentage of electronics distributors’ overall sales, but distributors say there has been a sharp increase in demand by automakers and their key systems suppliers … Read more
Growing demand from key customer segments and the transition from 16-bit and 8-bit MCUs to 32-bit microcontrollers will result in robust sales growth for 32-bit controllers. Semiconductor buyers can expect constrained supply of 32-bit microcontrollers at least through the first half of 2020 because of strong demand from automotive, medical and industrial equipment OEMs and … Read more
Long lead times, transportation delays, and finding new customers are some of the issues that small, specialized distributors face. Last year was a challenging time for most distributors, including small, specialized distributors which have smaller line cards and fewer customers and resources than larger broad line distributors. But such distributors have risen to the challenge … Read more
Buyers qualify new suppliers, share long-range forecasts and look to distributors for help in sourcing parts that are in short supply – by James Carbone. By most accounts, supply of semiconductors and other components will be constrained through the first half of 2021 and buyers at OEMs and electronics manufacturing services providers are employing strategies … Read more
While demand for high-brightness LEDs will grow this year, availability will remain high and prices will decline because of overcapacity. Oversupply, overall weaker demand from key customer segments and declining prices resulted in a 10 per cent decline in the high-brightness LED (HB-LED) market in 2020 as total LED revenue fell from $13.1 billion in … Read more
Distributors are bearing more of the responsibility of managing risk in the supply chain, as more semiconductors and other components are sold through the channel. Helping OEMs and electronics manufacturing services providers manage supply chain risk is not a new task for distributors, but that role seems to have become more important and is now … Read more
Electronics buyers will face longer lead times and some shortages in the first quarter, but it is unclear how long unfavorable buying conditions will last. Non-franchised distributors say there will be limited supply for some passives and semiconductors in the first quarter of 2021 but tight supply for some parts could last through much of … Read more
Chip sales declined in the first half, but demand bounced back in the third and fourth quarters and distributors expect to post modest semiconductor sales growth for the year. When the coronavirus pandemic spread across the world, most distributors thought that their semiconductor sales would fall this year because the pandemic shut down production of … Read more
Increased computer sales during the pandemic has resulted in greater demand for microprocessors. Semiconductor buyers can expect average prices for microprocessors to increase about 3.2 per cent over the next 12 months as demand rises because of higher sales of servers, notebooks and other PCs. The average price for microprocessors used in computers will rise … Read more
