PASADENA, CA — For the first time in several quarters, the electronic components value chain is getting some pricing and lead time relief, as the new Supplyframe Commodity IQ insights reveal. Bloated inventories have led to plummeting memory device lead times and pricing, and the equalization of lead times and pricing for some passive components. This shift has occurred amid slowing demand in many end markets as central banks continue to raise interest rates to curb inflation and economies worldwide teeter on the edge of recession. But Commodity IQ data indicates that automotive and other sectors that rely on mature process nodes will be plagued by elevated prices and lead times through most of 2023.
“Component availability is improving and prices are stabilizing across many categories, especially in the area of passive components,” said Supplyframe CEO and founder Steve Flagg. “But we continue to see significant challenges related to other components and raw materials. And the economy, energy costs, and escalating geopolitical instability have dampened user demand and sourcing activity and cast a cloud of uncertainty over the electronics value chain outlook.”
Uneven, but now significant, component supply chain improvements continue
The Commodity IQ forecast for H1 2023 indicates that only 27% of semiconductor pricing across all major commodities will increase, compared with 76% in H1 2022.
From Q1 through Q3 2023, less than 20% of semiconductor pricing will rise, and just over three-quarters of semiconductor pricing will stabilize. Nearly 30% of semiconductor and passive component pricing dimensions will decrease in H1 2023, according to Commodity IQ.
While long lead times will persist into 2023 for components like microcontrollers and analog ICs, according to Commodity IQ data, 23% of all component lead time dimensions in Q1 2023 will decline. For Q3 2023, Commodity IQ data indicates half of lead times will stabilize, with just 3% of dimensions increasing.
End-market demand has softened, and component sourcing activity has taken a hit
Recessionary fears, central banks’ monetary policy actions intended to thwart inflation, and China’s souring economy are all impacting downstream demand for electronic components across multiple industry segments. In early May, Supplyframe’s predictive intelligence identified the sharp downturn in consumer device demand downturn that we are experiencing today, as well as the softening in the enterprise data center arena. These insights helped Commodity IQ users proactively adjust their sourcing strategies and inventory levels accordingly.
The Commodity IQ Demand Index shows global component sourcing activity was down nearly 22% in November 2022 versus November 2021, due in part to easing lead times for constrained components and less spot buying. Global component sourcing activity was down 7.4% from October through November this year. After peaking in March with commodities like microcontrollers at over three times the Commodity IQ Demand Index baseline, November 2022 found 40% of the top passive and active component commodities below the baseline.
Activity for the top 30 component types in November shrunk month-on-month by an average of 12%. Year-on-year growth in November was positive for most passive devices and negative for most semiconductors, with programmable logic devices leading the declines at 34.8%.
The Americas region saw the largest decline (15%) in sourcing activities in November. This was driven by a 16.1% downturn in the U.S. sourcing activity for Asia-Pacific and Europe ebbed by 3.1% and 5.8%, respectively. But all regions experienced decreases in sourcing in November.
Examples of volatility, uncertainty, strife, challenge, and change are everywhere
This is all happening amid an environment in which global output contraction (real GDP) is projected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at 3.2% (annual change) in 2022 versus 6% in 2021. And more than a third of the worldwide economy is poised to contract in 2022 or 2023.
Meanwhile, oil and natural gas price volatility, coupled with soaring energy costs overall – especially in Europe, have added to production and logistics woes across industries. That includes, but is not limited to, raw metals and resins used throughout the electronics value chain. Heightened energy costs impact end markets, muting electronic component demand.
Recurring COVID-19 outbreaks and related containment protocols, climate change, and a global shortage of electrical engineering talent are also among the myriad disruptions adding to the macroeconomic, interconnected impacts of the complex electronics supply chain.
The U.S. restricting shipments to China of graphics processors and AI accelerators used in high-performance computing, and the sweeping U.S. export controls supported by other nations that effectively prohibit China’s chipmakers from procuring semiconductor production equipment required to move to smaller IC geometries will no doubt further disrupt supply chains and add to the uncertainty. Additionally, Beijing is challenging the U.S. and other nations’ supporting the chip restrictions by bringing suit via the World Trade Organization (WTO) while reportedly crafting a 1 trillion yuan ($143 billion) plan to counteract the restrictions for its semiconductor sector, further adding to the market anxiety.
“The world has become an increasingly unpredictable place,” said Richard Barnett, chief marketing officer and SaaS sales leader at Supplyframe. “That elevates the need for businesses to use the power of intelligence to best position their companies and products for resilience and success. Supplyframe Commodity IQ is a transformed approach to electronics supply chain information that provides unique, predictive, and prescriptive intelligence for electronic components, systems, and associated commodities based on operational analytics. This always-on SaaS solution from Supplyframe pairs expert analysis and context with global electronics design, demand, pricing, lead time, and inventory indices to help companies connect the dots.”
WALTHAM, MA – Nano Dimension Ltd. (Nasdaq: NNDM, “Nano Dimension” or the “Company”), a leading supplier of Additively Manufactured Electronics (“AME”) and multi-dimensional polymer, metal & ceramic Additive Manufacturing (“AM”) 3D printers, announced today the sale of its newest AME system, the DragonFly® IV, to Northeastern University.
This transaction demonstrates the Company’s success in supporting academic institutions, who are most often at the forefront of innovation. Northeastern University will be the first Massachusetts-based university to acquire this technology. Nano Dimension moved its U.S. based offices to the Boston area earlier this year to put its hi-tech solutions at the center of one of the world’s leading innovation hubs.
The DragonFly IV® system and specialized materials serve cross-industry High-Performance-Electronic-Devices (Hi-PEDs®) fabrication needs by simultaneously depositing proprietary conductive and dielectric substances, while integrating in-situ capacitors, antennas, coils, transformers, and electromechanical components. The outcomes are Hi-PEDs® which are critical enablers of autonomous intelligent drones, cars, satellites, smartphones, and in vivo medical devices. In addition, these products enable iterative development, IP safety, fast time-to-market, and device performance gains.
Dale Baker, Nano Dimension President of Americas and Head of Worldwide Sales & Marketing, said, “We are pleased that Northeastern University has chosen our latest electronics 3D printer, and we appreciate their confidence in our technology and products. We are committed to supporting the students and faculty of this leading institution as they explore and develop the concept of three-dimensional design.”
Siber Circuits Inc., of Markham, Ontario, has come together with IEC and atg Luther & Maelzer for the install of a brand new A7a Flying Test Probe machine. Siber Circuits specializes in prototype and fast turnaround, and the A7a is more than capable of delivering on those promises.
Simon Etherington, President of Siber Circuits, commented on the purchase, “The A7a is a necessary purchase in an industry like printed circuit boards. With the difficulty of hiring new employees across many industries, automation of key processes is the way forward for both quality and speed of delivery to our customers.”
The A7a tester comes equipped with 8 test heads, shuttle system, and slip sheet handling capabilities for multiple sizes of circuit panels. With high speed direct linear drives, 4 high-resolution color cameras, and fully automatic, Lights-out Operation, the A7a showcases the power of automation.
WALTHAM, MA — Nano Dimension Ltd., a leading supplier of Additively Manufactured Electronics (“AME”) and multi-dimensional polymer, metal & ceramic Additive Manufacturing (“AM”) 3D printers, announced today that it has received a purchase order from a large Western aerospace, defense and information technology company, for a DragonFly IV®, the leading Additive Manufacturing Electronics (AME) 3D-printer.
This customer is the 9th Western defense company to become a user of Nano Dimension’s advanced AM solutions. This is in addition to the Company’s defense governmental agency customers, i.e., national armies, intelligence, and security agencies. Nano Dimension cannot reveal the name of the company due to the sensitive nature of their work.
This customer, like many others, sees the DragonFly IV® as a critical means to advance innovation in a way that other technologies of electronics manufacturing cannot achieve.
The DragonFly IV® system and specialized materials serve cross-industry High-Performance-Electronic-Devices (Hi-PEDs®) fabrication needs by simultaneously depositing proprietary conductive and dielectric substances, while integrating in-situ capacitors, antennas, coils, transformers, and electromechanical components. The outcomes are Hi-PEDs® which are critical enablers of autonomous intelligent drones, cars, satellites, smartphones, and in vivo medical devices. In addition, these products enable iterative development, IP safety, fast time-to-market, and device performance gains.
Dale S. Baker, President of Nano Dimension-Americas and Head of Worldwide Sales & Marketing stated, “We are pleased to announce today that we have sold another DragonFly IV® system to one of the leading Western defense companies. This is another indication of confidence in the benefits which DragonFly IV® delivers, by enabling companies to dramatically reduce their time to develop prototype products in-house while maintaining control of their intellectual property. The case for investing in additively manufactured electronics continues to get stronger as customers appreciate the high return-on-investment based on the acceleration in innovation that yields quicker development and release of new products.”
BANNOCKBURN, Ill., USA, December 12, 2022 — IPC recently convened a roundtable of electronics executives to discuss trends driving the industry’s migration to the factory of the future. The executives came to a shared conclusion that the transition to the factory of the future features many challenges and pitfalls but making the transition will be increasingly critical to any company seeking to compete in the global economy. A summary of the discussion is now available: “The Evolution of Factories of the Future: What You Need to Know.”
In reaching their conclusion, the roundtable participants discussed common barriers in adopting smart manufacturing technologies and skill disparities in the electronics manufacturing workforce. They also shared practices they believed to be important as companies work to increase digitization and enhance manufacturing operations. Among other topics, company leaders talked about creating a workplace culture that embraces change and innovation.
“Executives agreed that despite the challenges in transitioning to the factory of the future, they have recognized the value in doing so and are now looking to integrate solutions that will deliver measurable benefits to their company,” said Matt Kelly, IPC chief technologist.
CAMBRIDGE, UK — Having been largely confined to the realm of academia for many years, metamaterials are now set for commercialization in several major applications. The IDTechEx report, “Metamaterials Markets 2023-2043: Optical and Radio-Frequency”, explores the opportunities within this emerging materials technology.
A particularly significant emergent application of electromagnetic metamaterials is in supporting the deployment of high-frequency telecommunications, such as millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G and even THz. High frequencies can allow for faster data transfer and hence improved user experience. However, at high frequencies, there is a severe loss in energy across long distances. These problems can be further exacerbated by obstacles, as is common in urban environments. As a result, a low-power device that can facilitate the delivery of high-frequency signals in crowded environments is required.
Metamaterials offer a potential solution through enabling the development of “Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems”, or RIS for short. These systems integrate electronic components to reflect radio waves in specific, configurable directions – enabling signals to be reflected around obstacles, thus overcoming the issues of signal blockage. RIS can potentially even track users autonomously for directed communications, allowing for greater signal quality and improved security by reducing the likelihood of connection by unauthorized users. These advantages that RIS propose have drawn attention from telecom providers such as Verizon, who partnered with RIS-developer Pivotal Commware in 2020 to deploy the latter’s products in supporting mmWave 5G deployment.
If beaming a signal in a specific direction were the only goal, then this could be achieved using conventional relay stations. However, RIS offers two crucial advantages – namely, their low power use and small form factor. This allows them to be deployed at scale in areas where a conventional relay station would not fit, such as above traffic lights at crowded junctions or under a ceiling in a stadium, significantly improving 5G coverage in crowded environments. The requirement of low power also greatly reduces the costs of operating a widespread network, and it may even be possible to power some RIS devices from built-in energy harvesting systems such as solar photovoltaics.
Deployment at scale for RIS would only be possible if each device could be produced affordably – as such, the materials used and manufacturing process are of key concern. RIS developers, such as Greenerwave and Pivotal Commware, have thus designed their devices to be compatible with conventional PCB components and manufacturing methods. That these rely on well-founded industries ensures manufacturing can be carried out affordably at scale.
The devices discussed above incorporated electronic components to actively steer signals; however, electronic components are not a prerequisite. A feature central to metamaterials is their ability to reflect at otherwise unachievable angles, and so may conceivably be deployed as “mirrors” to passively reflect signals around corners. Transparent metamaterial sheets capable of this functionality pose a significant materials opportunity, as they may be integrable with existing structures such as windows or walls. An example of such a product is demonstrated by Meta Materials Inc and Sekisui, who entered a collaboration in 2021 to develop a transparent conductive reflector film that can reflect signals for improved mmWave signal coverage.
Thus far, only reflection has been considered – however, metamaterials can also enhance high-frequency telecommunications through improving the transmission of signals through windows. Low-emissivity glass contains a very thin transparent layer of metal oxide to block UV and infrared radiation; such glass can be found in the windows of regular households, businesses, and in the windshields of cars. It is becoming increasingly common for consumers to choose low-emissivity glass in order to improve energy efficiency and minimize utility bills. However, these also have the effect of blocking wireless communication signals and thus causes poor phone reception. By incorporating a transparent metamaterial film, the strength of high-frequency signals within buildings can be greatly enhanced. Indeed, such high-frequency signals experience particularly significant attenuation and may necessitate metamaterials for any viable indoor phone reception.
5G has been commercialized since 2019, but to date, mmWave has been impeded by the high costs necessary for implementation. The short range of mmWave requires large numbers of base stations to be installed, thus making it expensive and unattractive. However, metamaterial-based RIS may be set to revolutionize the market by enabling affordable, widespread coverage, paving the way for future high-frequency telecommunications. In the IDTechEx report “Metamaterials Markets 2023-2043: Optical and Radio-Frequency”, the potential of metamaterial-based RIS is analyzed in depth to assess the potential for this emergent technology in supporting high-frequency telecommunications.
