Global Electronics & Semiconductor components Industry
The global electronics manufacturing industry involves the assembling of electronic goods for domestic, professional, State and military use. Electronics are also used in other industries in the manufacture of a range of goods including appliances, lighting, vehicles and toys. Manufacturing companies can be broken down into categories according to what they produce. The main categories of products include equipment used in the fields of telecommunications, engineering, laser processing, photography and medicine, machinery components, lighting and consumer electronics.
Manufacturing companies are obliged to deal with other manufacturers as much of the raw materials they use involves intermediate components. Apart from nurturing a strong business relationship, these companies often locate near one another to cut transport and inventory costs and to afford smooth collaboration for research and development. One such example is Silicon Valley in California where a cluster of companies operates in close proximity to manufacture software and computers. The global electronics manufacturing industry is comprised of relatively small companies for the most part.
Electronics products are becoming cheaper and being produced faster thanks to the industry’s supply chain, which is becoming more and more globalized. Much of the electronic goods manufactured by the industry come from Asia, with China the number one country in terms of production. Outsourcing is common amongst US electronics manufacturers, allowing them to capitalize on profits by cutting production costs. The industry relies on technological innovation, with heavy investment in research and development projects involving highly qualified engineers and technical experts. An increasing degree of automation is making the production of electronics equipment faster and helping to keep the pace of production up with that of constantly evolving designs.
Key Electronic Manufacturing Market Segments
The global consumer electronics industry has an estimated worth of close to $7 trillion, according to Business Insights. This highly competitive industry is seeing an extensive convergence of market, products and technologies, fuelled by miniaturization, digitalization, and mobility.
In the global electronic manufacturing services industry, most electronic equipment manufacturers are at the service of original equipment manufacturers.
Electronics materials and chemicals refer to substances necessary to make printed circuit boards and semiconductors, and exist in liquid, gaseous, and solid forms.