Waiting for the next tech boom
Staff -- Purchasing, 1/16/2003 2:00:00 AM
PURCHASING's Business Activity Index for electronics-consuming companies was down again in December. At 51.5, the index remained just barely in the growth-signaling zone.
Among the 35% of electronics buyers reporting increasing sales, only a handful reports strong sales rates. These tend to be serving military and healthcare-related industries. The majority, meantime, say order rates are more likely to be (a) up strongly one month, down strongly the next, (b) up in some parts of the business, but being offset by weakness in other parts, or (c) heading up gradually from very low levels in 2001 and 2002. Among the 32% of electronics buyers reporting falling sales in December, those serving commercial aerospace, telecom and capital equipment industries are in worst shape. Companies serving auto and construction say sales are now falling off after a solid 2002.
There are sporadic reports of difficulties sourcing custom-made devices, optics, some integrated circuits and connectors, new technology chipsets, lasers, photodiodes, thyristor, sensors, bushings, older EEPROMS, and double data rate (DDR) DRAM.
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