Electronic components will weather 2008

Dennis Zogbi, president of the analyst firm Paumanok Publications, predicted 2008 growth rates of around six percent for the electronic components industry. In Zogbi’s view, increases in the number of components in today’s products will offset any decreases in end-user sales. Zogbi’s prognosis was echoed by Eric Pratt, senior director at iSuppli, whose product tear-downs illustrated the increasing number of passive components in the most popular electronic products. Bob Willis, ECA president, also struck a note of conservative optimism. He said electronic components growth had flattened in the first quarter of this year according to his association’s monthly order report index, but was capable of repeating last year’s moderate growth of around five percent. While Western economies struggle with market woes, China is undergoing its version of a slowdown: Amy Wang, vice president of China Outlook Consulting, said that the Chinese economy is decelerating, which in this case means growth of 20 percent annually. John Maxwell, vice president of engineering at Johanson Dielectrics, presented the keynote at this year’s conference, titled “The Perils of Passives Going Green.” Maxwell is this year’s recipient of the Dr. Felix Zandman Award, recognizing individuals who have made outstanding technical contributions to the electronic components industry. Zandman is the chairman and founder of Vishay Intertechnology. Maxwell said that environmental requirements are here to stay and will become more onerous to manufacturers in the near future. He ended with a warning to manufacturers that being “exempt” from environmental regulations will no longer be an option.