MW Quarterly Archive
From Our Market Blog
Vol. 2 No. 1, Winter 2008
Managing the Risk of Obsolescence: Customized component lifecycle management
End of life (EOL) is an inevitable state for all electronics components; it is the rapidity of obsolescence that varies. While consumer electronics manufacturers have become dexterous in their designs and ability to accommodate and even take advantage of component volatility, there remain many in the industry who are in riskier positions.
Read more: Managing the Risk of Obsolescence: Customized component lifecycle management
The Revolution is Now: How the automotive sector is driving growth for semiconductors
With over 300 chips and 100-plus computers on average, the automobile is the nexus of cutting edge engineering and consumer electronics and represents a rising sector for 2008 and beyond. The automotive electronics sector has been forecasted to see revenue in the USD $113 billion range for 2008 in addition to power-management ICs and discretes for autos that are expected to meet or exceed USD $5 billion for 2008 (iSuppli). "The proportion of electronics that makes up the cost of a new car has shot up from very little to perhaps a quarter. By 2010 experts think it could approach half" ('Revving up', The Economist 10/11/2007).
Read more: The Revolution is Now: How the automotive sector is driving growth for semiconductors
A Jumping off Point: China and U.S. market conditions for the semiconductor industry
This article is the first in a year-long series focusing on the economic climate for the semiconductor industry. Each article in this year's series will focus on a particular
coupling of regions or countries to explore how immediate economic indicators are affecting the manufacturing and the consumer end-market subsectors in our industry. The goal of these articles is to provide a meta-analysis and synthesis of evolving economic and market conditions to guide planning and procurement.
Read more: A Jumping off Point: China and U.S. market conditions for the semiconductor industry
Focus on the Open Market: 2008 Open Market component outlooks
Some of the unique benefits to buying and selling electronic components every day are the accumulation of valuable commodity insight, expertise and a privileged perspective on the market. To benefit MarketWatch Quarterly readers, we've polled the Commodity Managers at Smith & Associates and compiled their views of where the market is headed. These views are based on current component trading, incoming requirements, inventory levels, open market product offerings and supplier data. The responses are grouped by commodity family. The following is Smith & Associates' outlook for the first half of 2008:
Read more: Focus on the Open Market: 2008 Open Market component outlooks
