EL SEGUNDO, CA – At just beyond the midyear point, all signs point to the PC market attaining the annual forecast of 11.2% growth in unit shipments, says iSuppli Corp.
TOKYO — Japan May PWB production rose 7.9% year-over-year to 80.3 billion yen, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reported last week.
May production dropped 5% from April. The sequential drop is unusual as a rebound typically occurs in May, industry analyst Dominique Numakura said in his weekly newsletter.
Rigid multilayer board sales rose 1.1% over last year, but fell 7.8% from April. Unit selling prices dropped "significantly," Numakura said. Single- and double-sided boards and high-layer-count boards were flat compared to April.
Flex circuit sales rose 11.2% from 2006 and 2.4% over April. Double-sided and multilayer flex boards were up 19.5% year-over-year and 4.4% from April. Average selling prices have remained at record high levels over the last four months, indicating that the flex circuit segment is trending upward, Numakura said. However, single-side flex data suggest a downward trend in volume and revenues, he said.
PALO ALTO, CA – Current market dynamics point to further outsourcing by OEMs, and as a result, both EMS providers and ODMs will enjoy steady growth during the forecast period, says Frost & Sullivan.
Compared to the EMS market, ODMs have witnessed higher growth over the last five years, the research firm states.
In a study released today, the research firm finds that the global EMS market earned revenues of $190 billion in 2006 and will grow to $387.4 billion in 2013. The global ODM market earned revenues of $100.7 billion in 2006 and is on track to reach $219 billion in 2013.
“Increased outsourcing from automotive and communication industries along with new outsourcing opportunities from the aerospace and defense, medical and industrial applications industries will likely drive the future growth of the EMS market,” notes Frost research analyst Lavanya Ram Mohan.
Design expertise represents a primary growth factor for ODMs, especially in markets such as consumer electronics, computing, PC and servers, says the researcher.
Frost adds that OEMs often seek ODMs as strategic design partners; ODMs’ ability to offer design solutions with high quality and low-cost options will maintain the market’s high growth rate during the forecast period.
However, ASPs in traditional markets have declined, and EMS providers often find themselves squeezed to provide the lowest cost. EMS providers can no longer remain complacent based on their manufacturing, engineering, design, or supply chain expertise, the company continues.
EMS providers need to offer differentiated services to OEMs, while simultaneously retaining the current level of services. In particular, EMS providers offering design services can increase revenues and profits substantially, says Frost. EMS providers will likely benefit from the considerable growth potential within supply chain-related operations.
SAN FRANCISCO – The combination of accelerating PC unit growth, benign end-market PC pricing and falling component costs is creating a favorable operating environment for PC vendors, says Deutsche Bank Equity Research.
Recent IDC market data show worldwide PC shipment growth accelerated to 12.5% year-over-year in the second quarter, up 1.5 points sequentially.
DB believes PC unit growth will accelerate through the second half, and unit growth estimates will trend up as a result of continued strength in emerging markets, ongoing consumer strength and early signs of a corporate upgrade cycle.
In addition, stable PC pricing and declining component costs – DRAM, aggressive near-term hard disk drive pricing and excess CPU inventory – will translate into improving profitability for the sector, says the firm.
IDC data show that worldwide PC shipment growth on the rise, buffeted by continued robust demand in the Asia Pacific (up 20% over last year) and better-than-expected U.S. demand.
The company continues to believe PC unit growth will accelerate through year-end and expects consensus expectations for PC unit growth to trend toward 15%. Continued strength in emerging markets, consumer and the beginning stages of a corporate PC upgrade cycle in the second half will drive improving growth rates through year-end, says the firm.
HP remains the top vendor on a worldwide basis with 19.3% unit share, followed by Dell (16.1%), Lenovo (8.3%), Acer (7.2%) and Toshiba (4.1%). Dell was the top vendor in the U.S. with 28.4% market share, followed by HP (23.6%), Gateway (5.6%), Apple (5.6%), Toshiba (5.3%) and Acer (5.2%). Apple had a particularly strong quarter with growth of 26% year-over-year.
PC pricing remains benign despite the favorable component cost environment, DB says.
SAN JOSE, CA – The world flat panel displays market is set to exhibit a huge growth during the 2001-2010 period, registering sales in excess of $114.4 billion by 2010, says Global Industry Analysts Inc.
Japan and Asia-Pacific corner the largest share of the global FPD market, with a combined share estimated of more than 75% in 2006, says the firm. Asia-Pacific is forecast to emerge as the fastest growing FPD market with a CAGR of 23.5% during 2001-2010.
The plasma displays market is projected to be the major growth driver with a CAGR of 38.5% over 2001-2010.
Demand for various flat display types will remain bullish in the years ahead, according to Global Industry Analysts. The market researcher claims the demand for displays will come from integration in different end-use applications, including home entertainment systems and mobile phones.
Prices of LCDs and PDPs are sliding because of the huge investments made in fabrication capacities and advanced technologies, bringing in an increased demand for FPDs, the firm states.
LCDs are being increasingly used in notebook computers, desktop computers, cellphones, portable digital assistants and flat panel televisions with broadband compatibility. Leading electronics players including Samsung, Sharp and LG are channeling substantial resources into the production of these displays to suffice the continuously up-surging market demand, says the report.
However, the LCD market could face stiff competition from competitive flat panel displays such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) and field emission display (FED), says Global Industry Analysts.
Recently, small-size LCDs have been in short supply in major FPD markets across the globe, owing to an unprecedented demand for small-size panels in color cellphones apart from shortened supply of the large panels, continues the report.
Large-panel LCDs for desktop and notebook computers are trading at significantly low prices and prices are likely to fall further. Prices of large-area, thin-film-transistor LCDs dropped by significant amounts and are expected to continue dropping until demand recovers sharply.
ATLANTA – UP Media Group, parent company of Circuits Assembly, announced today that a 60-minute Webinar, Korea RoHS/ELV – What You Need to Know, will be held Aug. 14 at 12 PM EDT.
The Webinar will be presented by Michael Kirschner, president of Design Chain Associates LLC, and Junsik Yoon, an associate with Korean environmental firm Eco-Frontier.
The Webinar will help electronics and automotive companies understand and comply with Korea’s RoHS-, WEEE-, and ELV-like regulation when it goes in to force on Jan. 1.
Korea's Act for Resource Recycling of Electrical/Electric Products and Automobiles has elements of several EU directives such as RoHS, WEEE, ELV, and EuP, and has a short timeline and details that will not be officially published until fall.
Yoon’s presentation will describe the law, similarities and differences between it and the relevant European directives, and the implementation requirements for the Jan. 1 deadline. Kirschner will describe the steps to compliance OEMs must take to ensure compliance.
Registration for the event, which will include a Q&A session, costs $169 and is available online at www.pcbshows.com/webinars.
