Economic growth is slowing down in Germany and the economy in France is contracting, highlighting the euro area’s struggle to sustain its recovery. Still, should manufacturers be optimistic about Europe? With the “political earthquake” caused by the European elections in May and the difficult task of choosing the new leader of the European Commission in mind, it is easyRead More
PC unit sales declined 10% in 2013 for the second straight year of contraction, as the computer market contracts and swaps PCs for tablets and smartphones. Bishop tracks 11 companies in the computer market sector and 10 companies in the peripheral market sector. This market has been in contraction, as measured by these 21 companies,Read More
As goes the semiconductor market, so go interconnects. The Semiconductor Industry Association shares the five things to know about global semiconductor sales now. 1. Global semiconductor sales reached a record high in 2013. Worldwide semiconductor sales for 2013 reached $305.6 billion, the industry’s highest-ever annual total and an increase of 4.8% from the 2012 totalRead More
Competition in the defense industry will continue to become more global and intense. Facts and figures of military strategy show the defense sector has more players than future demand can profitably support. Governments and defense agencies in 2013 — from the US to China to the eurozone — had to justify defense spending against aRead More
The global rail industry market for connectors is expected to yield an 8.0% CAGR through 2018, growing to an annual volume of $828.8 million. Europe, the largest component of the global rail industry market segment, with 48.8% of the total market, is repositioning itself for consistent expansion into its 2020 plan and beyond. A freeRead More
China’s Role in Electronic Product Manufacturing Mainland China has become the manufacturing center for the world, including high-volume manufacturing (HVM) of electronic products. The speed at which China became a leader in manufacturing is amazing, fueled in part by the wave of contract manufacturing that has swept the globe over the past decade. Oh, howRead More
Cellular M2M Device Shipments for Industrial Automation Reach 760,000 According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the shipments of cellular M2M devices in industrial automation reached 760,000 worldwide in 2013. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.5%, shipments are expected to reach 2.1 million in 2018. TheRead More
November 2013 – Three quarters into the calendar year, how is the connector industry performing? Overall, will 2013 be boom or bust or somewhere in between? Bishop & Associates runs the numbers for the year so far and makes its forecast for Q4.
October 2013 – Significant progress toward implementing PTC is being made as US railroads collaborate with federal regulators and suppliers in order to meet a 2015 deadline enacted by the US Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
October 2013 – The combined annual revenue of all the market sectors tracked was $4.3 trillion in 2012, an increase of 4.9% over 2011. Of the 13 market sectors, instrumentation was the third-fastest growing market sector in 2012, at 5.4% year-over-year with combined revenues of $29 billion. Profitability was $3.5 billion at 12.1% of sales.
October 2013 – Does the list of Top 10 connector manufacturers for quality diverge from the Top 10 list based on price? Do customers make buying decisions based on price or quality (or both)? Bishop & Associates asked customers to rank European connector companies and compared the two lists to find out.
Report Shows Small Companies are Bright Spot in North American EMS Market Small-company performance is one bright spot in the July 2013 edition of the IPC North American EMS Market Report released this month by IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries. This month’s report indicates that the smallest EMS companies that participate in IPC’s NorthRead More
