May 02,
2007
This
is part one of a two-part article looking at demand trends in the electronic
components industry.
What’s
in demand and what’s losing favor in the components market? Not surprisingly,
one of the recent changes in demand is that manufacturers are looking more to
their suppliers and distributors to deliver complete modules instead of just
individual components. “Modules are in demand,” says Marc Gsand, VP of
marketing at Avnet Americas, a division of Avnet Inc. in Phoenix. “A company
can produce products with a small footprint in design engineering if they’re
buying a module.”
The
interest in modules is part of the trend in manufacturing to push more of the
design engineering work down the supply chain. Manufacturers seek quicker time
to market. They also want design help so they can include new technology in
their products without having to spend the months and years developing
expertise in that technology.
As
well as modules, manufacturing customers are also buying board solutions that
go beyond individual components. “We spend a lot of time designing Intel
processors, and our customers want it on a board,” says Gsand. “Now they’re
going for a board with the Intel processor on it. We offer silicon as well as
the board, but many are going for the whole board.”
The
reason behind buying the whole board, like buying modules, is to get product
out on the market quickly. Buying a full board also means less design work for
the manufacturer. “The interest in a board product is time-to-market,” says
Gsand. “A complete board solution gives the customers 90 percent of what they
need. This means more collaboration between suppliers to get the board.”
Another
area of demand Gsand sees is with anything involved RF or mobile technology.
“The hottest segment of the market is around anything that is portable or
handheld,” says Gsand. “In general, we’re seeing a ton of demand for chip sets
and modules in RF and wireless. Everyone is trying to go for wireless. We’re specifically
getting lots of requests for modules for handheld and portable devices.” Gsand
notes that demand for wireless components and modules cuts across a wide range
of applications and industries. “Anything wireless is hot, and it extends
outside consumer electronics,” says Gsand. “We see that demand in the embedded
industry and GPS monitoring, and it includes all technologies.”
Since
Avnet is a distributor, most of the demand for wireless and RF components comes
from small, medium and specialty manufacturers. “We’re seeing demand for
portable products in the medical industry for items such as glucose
monitoring,” says Gsand. “We’re seeing demand for mobile medical equipment that
transmits data.”
Gsand
notes that Avnet is also seeing an increasing interest in surveillance
equipment. “There is a lot of demand for ways to capture movements,” says
Gsand. “Video surveillance is a hot market. Right now that’s getting more
attention than anything we demo for customers.”
Yet
another hot market comes from developments in flash-based FPGA components.
Gsand likens this technology to the ability to turn your computer on without
having to wait for the system to load. “Imagine turning on your computer and
boom it’s on, and there’s no boot or cashing in the memory,” says Gsand. “The
flash-based FPGA is hot and it’s showing up in numerous applications.” He notes
that the flash-based FPGA from Actel was recently voted product of the year.”
High-brightness
LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are also becoming more popular. “There is a lot of
remote-controlled lighting, industrial monitoring, and that’s driving demand
for high-brightness LEDs,” says Gsand. “Traditional lights are being replaced
by LEDs. That includes everything from backlighting for TVs to medical and
industrial uses. The total market is small, but it bears watching over time.”
Part
two of the article continues to look at what’s hot and what’s not in the
electronic components industry. Marc Gsand will point out where demand is
falling off in the market. The article will also include comments on what’s in
demand and what’s not from Skip Streber, VP of global supplier marketing at
Arrow Electronics Inc. in Melville, N.Y.
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