Buyers see spot shortages
Staff -- Purchasing, 10/24/2002
While memory markets remain substantially oversupplied, PURCHASING'sS leadtime data detects stretching in delivery speeds for such items as capacitors, connectors, resistors, some printed circuit boards (PCBs), batteries and power supplies. Leads for lithium-ion batteries averaged 35% longer in quarter three than they did in quarter two. In September 14% of li-ion battery buyers reported leads in excess of 21 weeks, up from zero percent in the month prior. Leads for connector types tracked by PURCHASING (d-subminiature, plastic leaded chip carrier, and printed circuit board) stretched 20-30% between quarters two and three. Delivery speeds for multi-layer and double-sided PCBs went out 28% and 18% respectively. Remarks from PURCHASING's Business Survey suggest that most troubles can still be classified as endemic rather than pandemic, meaning they have more to do with specific suppliers (short inventories or staffing, product mix adjustments, import glitches, etc.) and less to do with deficits in industry capacity versus demand.
| Raw data for latest month | Recent history: Weighted averages | |||||||||||||
| ELECTRONICS LEADTIMES | <1 wk | 2-5 wks | 6-10 wks | 11-20 wks | 21-30 wks | 30+ wks | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sep | Movement in latest month |
| DRAM: 128 Mb | 15% | 35% | 35% | 15% | 0% | 0% | 5.1 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 6.4 | Stretch |
| DRAM: 64 Mb | 16% | 47% | 32% | 5% | 0% | 0% | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 7.2 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 5.1 | Shrink |
| DRAM: 16 Mb | 16% | 53% | 21% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 4.6 | 5.2 | Stretch |
| SRAM: 4 Mb | 17% | 50% | 17% | 17% | 0% | 0% | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 6.4 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 5.8 | Stretch |
| SRAM: 1 Mb | 16% | 53% | 26% | 5% | 0% | 0% | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 4.7 | 4.8 | Stretch |
| SRAM: 256 K | 17% | 50% | 22% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 4.2 | 3.7 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 6.0 | 5.1 | 5.3 | Stretch |
| Flash: 32 Mb | 14% | 41% | 32% | 14% | 0% | 0% | 4.5 | 3.4 | 7.0 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 6.2 | Stretch |
| Flash: 16 Mb | 16% | 37% | 37% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 4.5 | 3.1 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 5.1 | 5.9 | Stretch |
| Flash: 8 Mb | 17% | 44% | 33% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 4.6 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 4.1 | 5.2 | Stretch |
| Logic: Bipolar | 19% | 33% | 38% | 10% | 0% | 0% | 4.2 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 5.8 | Shrink |
| Logic: CMOS | 24% | 36% | 32% | 8% | 0% | 0% | 3.9 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 5.8 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 5.2 | Shrink |
| MPU: 32-bit | 15% | 25% | 45% | 15% | 0% | 0% | 5.5 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 6.5 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 6.9 | Stretch |
| MPU: 16-bit | 15% | 25% | 45% | 15% | 0% | 0% | 4.6 | 2.3 | 5.3 | 6.9 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 6.9 | Stretch |
| Zener diode | 17% | 49% | 26% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3.8 | 2.6 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 6.0 | Stretch |
| Thyristor | 16% | 32% | 44% | 4% | 0% | 4% | 4.2 | 2.6 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 4.7 | 6.7 | Stretch |
| Small-signal transistors | 20% | 47% | 30% | 0% | 3% | 0% | 4.2 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 5.0 | Shrink |
| MOSFET | 17% | 48% | 26% | 0% | 9% | 0% | 4.3 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 7.1 | 6.1 | Shrink |
| Analog digital converters | 11% | 33% | 44% | 7% | 4% | 0% | 4.3 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 7.2 | 8.1 | 6.5 | 6.9 | Stretch |
| Digital/analog converters | 12% | 40% | 32% | 12% | 4% | 0% | 4.3 | 3.0 | 5.8 | 6.2 | 7.4 | 6.6 | 6.9 | Stretch |
| Network resistors | 18% | 39% | 29% | 11% | 4% | 0% | 3.5 | 2.4 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 6.3 | Stretch |
| Thick film chip resistors | 21% | 50% | 21% | 6% | 3% | 0% | 3.5 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 4.0 | 5.2 | Stretch |
| Carbon film resistors | 23% | 46% | 26% | 3% | 3% | 0% | 2.9 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 3.9 | 4.9 | Stretch |
| Wirewound resistors | 10% | 59% | 21% | 7% | 3% | 0% | 4.4 | 2.8 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 5.7 | Stretch |
| Ceramic chip capacitors | 21% | 34% | 34% | 8% | 3% | 0% | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.9 | Stretch |
| Film capacitors | 10% | 35% | 42% | 10% | 3% | 0% | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 7.0 | Stretch |
| Tantalum chip capacitors | 0% | 40% | 37% | 20% | 3% | 0% | 4.4 | 3.8 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 4.3 | 7.3 | 8.2 | Stretch |
| D-SUB connectors | 18% | 45% | 23% | 9% | 5% | 0% | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 5.9 | 6.1 | Stretch |
| PLCC connectors | 11% | 47% | 26% | 11% | 5% | 0% | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 4.1 | 5.9 | 6.8 | Stretch |
| PCB connectors | 8% | 48% | 32% | 8% | 4% | 0% | 4.2 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 6.5 | Stretch |
| DIP switches | 13% | 48% | 30% | 0% | 9% | 0% | 4.2 | 5.0 | 3.9 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 6.4 | Stretch |
| Pushbutton switches | 22% | 41% | 24% | 11% | 3% | 0% | 4.3 | 4.5 | 3.2 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 5.8 | Stretch |
| Slide switches | 9% | 43% | 30% | 9% | 9% | 0% | 4.8 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 7.6 | Stretch |
| General purpose relays | 20% | 37% | 30% | 10% | 3% | 0% | 3.8 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 6.2 | Stretch |
| Solid state relays | 12% | 31% | 38% | 15% | 4% | 0% | 3.9 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 6.3 | 4.2 | 5.7 | 7.6 | Stretch |
| NiCd batteries | 21% | 47% | 16% | 11% | 5% | 0% | 3.4 | 2.8 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 6.0 | Stretch |
| NiMH batteries | 24% | 47% | 18% | 6% | 6% | 0% | 3.5 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 5.6 | Stretch |
| Li-ion batteries | 14% | 36% | 36% | 0% | 7% | 7% | 3.3 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 8.5 | Stretch |
| Switcher power supplies | 13% | 47% | 23% | 10% | 7% | 0% | 5.6 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 6.8 | 6.2 | 9.5 | 6.8 | Shrink |
| Single sided printed circuit boards | 7% | 51% | 34% | 2% | 5% | 0% | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 5.3 | 6.2 | Stretch |
| Double sided printed circuit boards | 4% | 47% | 29% | 18% | 2% | 0% | 4.6 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 5.7 | 7.3 | Stretch |
| Multi-layer printed circuit boards | 3% | 40% | 35% | 18% | 5% | 0% | 5.0 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 5.8 | 7.4 | 8.2 | Stretch |
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