The Top 10 Connector Companies
By Ronald E. Bishop, Bishop & Associates Inc.

The 10 largest connector manufacturers have increased their share of the world connector market. In 1980, the top 10 accounted for 39.7 percent of total world connector sales. In 2009, this increased to 54 percent.

The following table and graph provides the top 10 market share since 1980.

The Top 10
Share of World Market

The increase in market share among the top 10 connector manufacturers is the result of several factors.

• Globalization favors large connector companies that have the resources to establish manufacturing plants close to the global OEMs.

• Contract manufacturing has grown significantly, favoring large connector companies with broad product lines and value-added manufacturing capabilities.

• Design complexity has become more important as electronic systems have become very sophisticated. Large connector companies have significant engineering capabilities and are favored with the “first look” on new systems.

The top 10 companies benefited most from globalization and the rise in importance of contract manufacturing. However, these factors probably added only a few points in market share growth. The majority of the increase in top 10 market share was due to acquisitions by Tyco Electronics, Amphenol Corporation, FCI, and Molex.

• Tyco Electronics added over a billion dollars in sales through the acquisition of M/A-COM, Siemens EC, Thomas & Betts, Elcon Products, and Raychem Corporation.

• Amphenol Corporation has acquired dozens of companies, including Teradyne’s connector business.

• FCI became a top 10 manufacturer by acquiring Burndy Corporation, Berg Electronics, and others.

• Molex acquired Cardell, Woodhead, and others. Molex has added less to their top-line sales through acquisitions than others in the top 10.

The following table shows the top 10 connector manufacturer’s sales by geographic region for 2004 and 2009, and includes the five-year CAGR.

Top 10 Sales by Region (2004-2009)

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