What's Happening in High-Tech Supply Chains
By Staff -- Purchasing, 1/17/2002
- The number of major power supply manufacturers is shrinking. A new report by Venture Development Corp. says six power supply companies account for 50% of the market compared to nine companies in 1998. The six are Artesyn, Ascom, Delta, Emerson (Astec) Tyco and Power One. The North American power supply market, which totaled $5.7 billion in 2001, is expected to grow to $6.8 billion by 2006.
- Monthly purchases of North American-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment have fallen to their lowest level in six years. November 2001 buys totaling $842.2 million are the lowest since early 1995. Equipment purchases have slipped every month since they peaked at $2.57 billion in October 2000. "This reflects the decline in global electronics production, excessive amounts of existing manufacturing capacity and curtailed investment by the world' chipmakers," says Stanley Myers, president of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International(SEMI). The trade group estimates that the semiconductor equipment market declined 38% in 2001 to $29.6 billion and will slip further to $28.7 billion in 2002.
- A 31.4% decline in worldwide semiconductor revenues to $151.2 billion in 2001 caused a shake up in the Top 10 company rankings. Only two of the world's 30 chip suppliers saw sales growth last year, notes analyst Joe D'Elia at iSuppli Market Intelligence Service in El Segundo, Calif. He points out that Japanese suppliers were hit hard, leaving the new Top 10 (in descending order) as follows: Intel, Texas Instruments, ST Microelectronics, Toshiba, Samsung, NEC, Motorola, Infineon Technologies, Philips Semiconductor, Hitachi.
- Attention display buyers: Organic light-emitting diode (OLED)display technology for computer monitors is developing at a rapid pace, but it will be several years before the technology translates into a major commercial effort. Joseph Castellano, an analyst at iSuppli Market Intelligence Service, says flat-panel monitor producers in Japan, North America and Europe plan to establish manufacturing facilities for OLEDS in the future, but for now are concentrating on research and development.
- Expect to buy more solid state pressure switches. A new study says that the U.S. market for devices will grow from $8.5 billion in 2001 to $14.6 billion in 2006, representing a compound annual growth rate of 11.4%. Benefits of solid-state pressure switches include long life cycles, greater accuracy, and high resistance to shock and vibration, according to Venture Development Corp.
| Sept-01 | Oct-01 | Nov-01 | Dec-01 | |
| DRAM: 128 Mb | 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.3 |
| DRAM: 64 Mb | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 5.9 |
| Flash: 32 Mb | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 5.9 |
| Flash: 16 Mb | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 5.9 |
| Flash: 8 Mb | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 5.9 |
| Logic: Bipolar | 4.8 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 6.7 |
| Logic: CMOS | 4.7 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 6.2 |
| MPU: 32-bit | 5.3 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 6.3 |
| MPU: 16-bit | 5.1 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 6.7 |
| Network resistors | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 5.6 |
| Thick film chip resistors | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 4.9 |
| Ceramic chip capacitors | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 6.0 |
| Tantalum chip capacitors | 4.7 | 3.3 | 5.3 | 7.1 |
| PCB connectors | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 4.5 |
| DIP switches | 3.3 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 5.6 |
| Pushbutton switches | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 6.0 |
| Slide switches | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 4.4 |
| General purpose relays | 2.7 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 5.0 |
| Solid state relays | 2.5 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
| Single sided printed circuit boards | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 5.4 |
| Double sided printed circuit boards | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 6.5 |
| Multi-layer printed circuit boards | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 6.1 |
| SOURCE: PURCHASING MAGAZINE | ||||
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