East vs. West – how does Europe’s EMS landscape differ
The European EMS landscape reveals significant contrasts between Western and Central/Eastern Europe. To explore these differences, Evertiq spoke with Dieter Weiss, founder of in4ma, who provides insights into European EMS market.
How do EMS players in Western Europe compare to those in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of performance – and are there any notable differences in their strategies?
“There is a huge difference,” Dieter Weiss, founder of in4ma, tells Evertiq. “At present I have 1763 EMS companies in Western Europe and 460 EMS companies in Eastern Europe. Even though this is a huge difference, regarding revenues they were nearly equal.”
During Evertiq Expo Warsaw on October 24, 2024, Dieter G. Weiss and Dr. Mareike Haass from in4ma will explain the structure of this industry – and its advantages and disadvantages. The experts will look at past developments and discuss future developments in EMS. What caused the product shifts and what are the reasons behind these developments?
Dieter continues to explain that the 460 EMS in Eastern Europe can be divided into three groups: Firstly, the big global EMS which started operations in CEE after the fall of the iron curtain; Secondly, the subsidiaries of Western European EMS; and thirdly the local EMS, belonging to local people.
Most of the EMS in the third group are small companies, with the exception of Videoton and Fideltronik. All of the companies in the first group have revenues exceeding EUR 100 million. For example, Flex in Hungary has revenues of more than EUR 1.8 billion, and Jabil Hungary has more than EUR 1.2 billion.
Dieter says that regarding the second group, the companies are mostly extended workbenches of Western European EMS companies
“Which I consider the wrong strategy. It would make much more sense if they were fully operational factories that, instead of supplying products back to the parent company, would directly supply customers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).”
Dieter Weiss and Maraike Haas from in4ma will delve deeper into this topic during their keynote presentation at the Evertiq Expo in Warsaw, Poland, in October 2024.
