European EMS Market Analysis

2014 was a tough year for most EMS companies with revenues in Western Europe  declining by 3% while an increase of 3.4% in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and  Middle East/North Africa (MENA) helped the overall European market post growth of 0.5%. Although the market is expected to recover, growth is forecast to remain flat in 2015/2016 before gaining some traction in the later part of the forecast period.

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EMS revenues in Western Europe are forecast to reach Euro 11.16 billion in 2019, up from Euro 10.37 million in 2014, with the market increasingly focused on the Aerospace, Defence, Automotive, Medical, Control & Instrumentation, Industrial and Telecom  (ADAMCIT) segments of the market.

Source: RER , The European EMS Industry – A Strategic Study of the European EMS Industry 2014-2019

The transfer of production to manufacturing facilities in  CEE/MENA to reduce costs and  the increasing demand by OEMs for EMS to offer local manufacturing in key global markets will dampen growth in Western Europe during the period to 2019.

The reverse applies to CEE/MENA where growth will be boosted by the transfer of production from Western Europe and in particular, lower volume high mix products in the ADAMCIT segments. This is expected to be offset in part by the migration of higher volume products in the consumer, computing and communications, or 3C, segment to Asia as the major global EMS companies come under increasing pricing pressure.  Assuming that the leading global EMS providers remain committed to retaining a major manufacturing presence in the region revenues are forecast to reach Euro 16.21 billion by 2019, up from Euro 15.15 billion in 2014

Major EMS Players

Although made up of over 1,000 companies, the industry is dominated by a small number of Global players with the Top 3 – Foxconn, Flextronics and Jabil – accounting for around 44.5% of revenues in 2014, with nearly 90% from plants in CEE focused on  the 3C segment.

Approaching 75% of the total sales (Euro 19.1 billion) are achieved by the leading 50 companies or 5% of the total number. We are expecting that there will be further consolidation across the industry due to the downward price pressure, slow economic growth and requirement to broaden and deepen the design, development and aftercare services to customers.

This comprehensive report provides:

• A detailed market analysis to 2019 for Western Europe, CEE and North Africa in a single report.


• A breakdown of the market by major sector.


• An in-depth analysis and comment on the key market trends impacting the European EMS Industry.


• A ranking and detailed profiles of the Top 20 EMS providers in Europe.


• An overview of electronic production and EMS manufacturing in the major countries and regions including a ranking of the leading companies and profiles of the major players.


• A directory by country of the EMS manufacturing locations with addresses, contact numbers, websites.

An appendix with the estimated sales turnover for 2014 of the Top 50 European EMS providers and the Top 50 European EMS companies based on global revenues and a list of the prevailing and historical currency exchange rates.

The European EMS Industry report allows you to track these developments in a single cost-effective study providing both detailed market and company analysis. The eleventh edition of the European EMS industry report, published by Reed Electronics Research, highlights the issues impacting the European EMS industry.

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site: The European EMS Industry – A Strategic Study of the European EMS Industry 2014-2019.

 

European EMS Market Analysis

Commercially Significant Market for Graphene Products to Develop Between 2015 and 2020

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS, the electronics industry market research and knowledge network, announces the availability of a new report entitled “Graphene: Technologies, Applications and Markets“. Although the nascent commercial market for graphene-based products currently is very small, between 2015 and 2025 the market should achieve unprecedented growth rates through technological advancements. New report reveals that increasing patent activity suggests technology trends are under way, ripening the market for explosive future growth.

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Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms bound together with double electron bonds in a thin film only one atom thick. The atoms in graphene are arranged in a honeycomb-style lattice pattern, an arrangement that provides strength, flexibility and electrical conductivity. The basic structural element of several forms of carbon, including graphite, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes, graphene has opened up new horizons for high-energy particle physics research and electronic, optical and energy applications.

Potential electronics applications of graphene include ultra-small transistors, super-dense data storage, touchscreens and wearable electronics. In the energy field, potential applications include ultracapacitors to store and transmit electrical power as well as highly efficient solar cells.

Global Market for Graphene

BCC research group expects a commercially significant market for graphene products to develop between 2015 and 2020, when the market is projected to be worth more than $310.4 million. The graphene market should continue to grow rapidly after 2020, approaching $2 billion by 2025.

Graphene printed electronics currently account for virtually all of the (very small) commercial market for graphene technologies. By 2020, structural materials should lead the market (23.2% market share) followed by displays (16.9% market share), graphene capacitors (16.9% market share) and high-performance computing applications (10.5% market share). Capacitors are projected to account for the largest share (31.6%) of the market for graphene technologies by 2025.

One challenge of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for the production of graphene is removing the graphene film from the metal substrate without contaminating it or ruining it. Several groups of researchers are working on solutions to this challenge. One of the most promising potential applications foreseen for this technology is the production of transparent electrodes for electronics screens.

In a field where many products and applications are still under development, an analysis of recent patents granted is a useful indicator of technology trends that will affect the graphene market in the mid-to-long term.

The number of U.S.patents granted for graphene-related inventions has been growing over the last 10 years, from four patents in 2005 to 309 in 2014 and 386 in just the first 10 months of 2015. Among the 355 patents issued for graphene applications, structural materials account for the largest number of patents identified. This trend is a clear indication of the growing interest in graphene.

Graphene: Technologies, Applications and Markets examines markets for graphene, with specific coverage of graphene technologies and applications. Analyses of global market drivers and trends, with data from 2014, estimates for 2015, and projections of CAGRs through 2020, and through 2025, are provided.

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site. View the report: “Graphene: Technologies, Applications and Markets“.

Commercially Significant Market for Graphene Products to Develop Between 2015 and 2020

Virtual Reality Hardware to Soar Past the $2 Billion Mark in 2016

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS announces the availability of a new report entitled “Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Hardware Forecast, 2016–2020“. Worldwide shipments of Virtual Reality (VR) hardware will skyrocket in 2016, with total volumes reaching 9.6 million units. Led by key products from Samsung, Sony, HTC, and Oculus, the category should generate hardware revenues of approximately $2.3 billion in 2016. While VR will drive nearly all of the hardware volume in 2016, Augmented Reality (AR) hardware is forecast to ramp up over the next few years. According to the first worldwide AR/VR forecast, the combined device markets will see hardware shipments surge past 110 million units in 2020.

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This report identifies three major device categories across the Augmented and Virtual Reality markets. They include: Screenless viewers that use the screen of specific smartphones to drive an AR/VR experience (example: Samsung Gear VR); Tethered Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) that utilize an existing compute device such as a PC, game console, or even a smartphone to drive a head-worn display (example: Oculus Rift); and Standalone HMDs that integrate processing within the head-worn display itself (example: Microsoft HoloLens). IDC is specifically not forecasting Google Cardboard-based products in its totals, nor any other viewer accessory that lacks electronics.

“In 2016, the first major VR Tethered HMDs from Oculus, HTC, and Sony should drive combined shipments of over 2 million units,” said Tom Mainelli, vice president for Devices & Displays at IDC. “When you combine this with robust shipments of screenless viewers from Samsung and other vendors launching later this year, you start to see the beginning of a reasonable installed base for content creators to target.”

“Video games will clearly be the lead rationale for people to pick up an Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or PlayStation VR this year,” added Lewis Ward, research director of Gaming. “While there have been some launch window hardware shipment hiccups that must be addressed near-term, I’m confident that they will be ironed out before the holiday season. The addition of exciting new titles will lead to a new wave of VR HMD hardware interest among those buying for themselves or family members and friends.”

IDC expects AR hardware to take longer to bring to market. “While development kits from players such as Microsoft, Meta, and others point to a strong future in AR hardware, these devices are dramatically harder to produce than VR products,” said Mainelli. “Doing this right is more important than doing it fast, and we urge the industry to continue its slow and steady approach to hardware development here, as AR is going to have a profound impact on the way we interact with technology and the way we do our jobs for many years to come. In the meantime, we expect companies to begin experimenting with AR software on devices already in use: smartphones and tablets.”

Virtual Reality Hardware to Soar Past the $2 Billion Mark in 2016

Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Hardware Shipments and 5-Year CAGR (shipments in millions)
Product Category	2016 Shipments	2020 Shipments	2016-2020 CAGR
Virtual Reality Hardware	9.6	64.8	183.8%
Augmented Reality Hardware	0.4	45.6	189.8%
Source: IDC, April 2016

Source: IDC, April 2016

The new forecast, Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Hardware Forecast, 2016–2020, provides shipment data for the three major device types, as well as average selling price (ASP) and revenues projections. The report also offers consumer and commercial shipment data.

 

Virtual Reality Hardware to Soar Past the $2 Billion Mark in 2016

Conductive Inks and Pastes Markets - New Battlegrounds are Emerging

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS announces the availability of a new report entitled “Conductive Ink Markets 2016-2026: Forecasts, Technologies, Players“. Conductive inks and pastes remains one of the largest sectors in all of printed electronics. The conductive inks and pastes market will reach nearly $1.7b in 2026 at current metal prices. Micro-sized silver conductive pastes will dominate the market, controlling nearly the entire market in 2016. Silver nanoparticles will however become increasingly competitive, finding use in a range for emerging applications sectors to become an $80m market in 2026.

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Copper will remain a comparatively immature technology but will achieve limited success as novel curing systems are installed to open the door to copper ink sales.The solar panel industry will be 1.5 k tonne market in 2016 for screen-printed firing-type conductive pastes. At the paste level, a new group of suppliers will soon come to dominate this business whilst at the powder level the users will force through a more diversified supplier base.

The touch screen edge electrode market will continue its decline. The linewidth-over-spacing (L/S) has decreased to 20/20, pushing screen printing with standard PTFs beyond its limits and opening the door to photocurable pastes. Etching-based techniques will find additional opportunities as the bezel is further narrowed whilst standard PTFs will retain some share in the low-cost end of the market.Sensors such as car occupancy sensors, printed piezoresistive sensors and some versions of glucose sensors will remain a substantial niche market for conductive pastes, as will the automotive sector with its mixed grouping of stagnant traditional and high-growth emerging applications. HF and UHF RFID antenna markets will grow but will see the relative market share of ink types transform over the coming decade. 3D antennas made using aerosol printing will continue gaining traction.

This approach will compete head-on with MID (molded interconnect devices) techniques and will become a substantial player in the consumer electronics market. Metal mesh as an ITO alternative will make slow inroads despite the pending consolidation period in the TCF industry, creating demand for silver nanoparticle used in filling or printing fine lines.New markets will emerge and create new performance requirements. In-mould electronics will demand inks that can stretch and survive the thermoforming/molding process.

Electronic textiles will require inks that are truly stretchable and withstand repeated washing cycles. 3D printed electronics and desktop PCB printers will need the high conductivity and low temperature inks to open vast new prototyping possibilities for 3D printers and circuit designers. All these markets are poised for rapid growth provided technology innovations can satisfy the market pull.Ten-year market projections split by application. Please contact us for the exact values. Note that ink selling prices have declined thanks to a decline in raw metal prices but also pressured margins, resulting in a decrease in our revenue forecasts.

Conductive Ink/Paste Market Report Provides:

1. Ten year market forecasts by technology market share, volume demand and market value in 14 market segments including:

• automotive


• touch


• photovoltaics


• RFID


• sensors


• smart packaging


• logic and memory, etc.

2. Comprehensive technology assessment, benchmarking and competitive landscaping for silver flake pastes, silver nanoparticle inks, copper nano and flake pastes and inks, graphene and carbon nanotubes, PEDOT, and silver nanowires.

3. Detailed application assessment including dynamics and drivers.

4. Competitive business intelligence on all key industry players including over 50 profiles based on direct interviews and/or visits.

10-year CAGR rates for conductive inks and paste market

Source: Conductive Ink Markets 2016-2026: Forecasts, Technologies, and Players

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site.  View the report: Conductive Ink Markets 2016-2026: Forecasts, Technologies, Players.

Conductive Inks and Pastes Markets - New Battlegrounds are Emerging

Virtual Reality Hardware to Soar Past the $2 Billion Mark in 2016

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS announces the availability of a new report entitled “Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Hardware Forecast, 2016–2020“. Worldwide shipments of Virtual Reality (VR) hardware will skyrocket in 2016, with total volumes reaching 9.6 million units. Led by key products from Samsung, Sony, HTC, and Oculus, the category should generate hardware revenues of approximately $2.3 billion in 2016. While VR will drive nearly all of the hardware volume in 2016, Augmented Reality (AR) hardware is forecast to ramp up over the next few years. According to the first worldwide AR/VR forecast, the combined device markets will see hardware shipments surge past 110 million units in 2020.

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This report identifies three major device categories across the Augmented and Virtual Reality markets. They include: Screenless viewers that use the screen of specific smartphones to drive an AR/VR experience (example: Samsung Gear VR); Tethered Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) that utilize an existing compute device such as a PC, game console, or even a smartphone to drive a head-worn display (example: Oculus Rift); and Standalone HMDs that integrate processing within the head-worn display itself (example: Microsoft HoloLens). IDC is specifically not forecasting Google Cardboard-based products in its totals, nor any other viewer accessory that lacks electronics.

“In 2016, the first major VR Tethered HMDs from Oculus, HTC, and Sony should drive combined shipments of over 2 million units,” said Tom Mainelli, vice president for Devices & Displays at IDC. “When you combine this with robust shipments of screenless viewers from Samsung and other vendors launching later this year, you start to see the beginning of a reasonable installed base for content creators to target.”

“Video games will clearly be the lead rationale for people to pick up an Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or PlayStation VR this year,” added Lewis Ward, research director of Gaming. “While there have been some launch window hardware shipment hiccups that must be addressed near-term, I’m confident that they will be ironed out before the holiday season. The addition of exciting new titles will lead to a new wave of VR HMD hardware interest among those buying for themselves or family members and friends.”

IDC expects AR hardware to take longer to bring to market. “While development kits from players such as Microsoft, Meta, and others point to a strong future in AR hardware, these devices are dramatically harder to produce than VR products,” said Mainelli. “Doing this right is more important than doing it fast, and we urge the industry to continue its slow and steady approach to hardware development here, as AR is going to have a profound impact on the way we interact with technology and the way we do our jobs for many years to come. In the meantime, we expect companies to begin experimenting with AR software on devices already in use: smartphones and tablets.”

Virtual Reality Hardware to Soar Past the $2 Billion Mark in 2016

Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Hardware Shipments and 5-Year CAGR (shipments in millions)
Product Category	2016 Shipments	2020 Shipments	2016-2020 CAGR
Virtual Reality Hardware	9.6	64.8	183.8%
Augmented Reality Hardware	0.4	45.6	189.8%
Source: IDC, April 2016

Source: IDC, April 2016

The new forecast, Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Hardware Forecast, 2016–2020, provides shipment data for the three major device types, as well as average selling price (ASP) and revenues projections. The report also offers consumer and commercial shipment data.

 

Virtual Reality Hardware to Soar Past the $2 Billion Mark in 2016

European Manufacturing Spotlight: Trends, Innovations, and Growth

IPC President and CEO John Mitchell discusses the growth of the European manufacturing industry and how IPC supports IPC members through standards, education and advocacy efforts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N07iGd5zbsI

To achieve a high quality end product and maintain a competitive position in the marketplace, you need to infuse quality throughout the manufacturing process.

Did you know there is an IPC standard associated with nearly every step of printed circuit board production and assembly?  From design and purchasing to assembly and acceptance, Electronics.ca Publications offers IPC Standards to help you assure superior quality, reliability and consistency in the electronic assemblies that go into your product. Download IPC Standards Spec Tree – PDF file.

As with the manufacturing process — which uses a step-by-step approach – IPC standards also build upon one another. To achieve your desired results, it’s important to implement the appropriate IPC standards associated with each step of production.

IPC Standards are available from Electronics.ca Publications in English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and other languages. IPC-Richtlinien in deutscher Übersetzung Les normes IPC en Français  Adquirir estándares de IPC  IPC 行业标准 (in Chinese) IPC から IPC ELECTRONICS.CA 標準を購入

Download IPC Standards Spec Tree – PDF File

Why Use IPC Standards in Your Manufacturing Process?

• Gain Control Over End Product Quality and Reliability — Quality and reliability are the cornerstones of competing in the marketplace and critical to your company’s reputation and profitability. By implementing IPC standards throughout the manufacturing process, you help ensure better performance, longer life and compliance with lead-free regulations.


• Improve Communication with Suppliers and Employees — IPC standards are the standards that your competitors, suppliers and EMS providers use. Working from an established IPC standard helps all of you to “speak the same language” — the language of the global electronic industry. In addition, using IPC standards eliminates confusion for employees, because they know they need to perform to an established industry standard.


• Help Contain Costs — Ensuring that your design and the bare boards you purchase comply with IPC standards allows you to produce electronic assemblies that meet stringent quality tests down the line, minimizing costly delays, rework and scrap.

The Most Popular IPC Documents are available from Electronics.ca Publications in PDF Format

Download IPC Standards

IPC A-610F – Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies
IPC-A-610 is the most widely used electronics assembly standard in the world. A must for all quality assurance and assembly departments.

IPC J-STD-001F – Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies
J-STD-001 Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies has emerged as the preeminent authority for electronics assembly manufacturing. The standard describes materials, methods and verification criteria for producing high quality soldered interconnections. The standard emphasizes process control and sets industry-consensus requirements for a broad range of electronic products. This revision now includes support for lead free manufacturing.

IPC A-620B – Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies
Revision B is now available for the only industry-consensus standard for Requirements and Acceptance of Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies.

IPC-DRM-PTH-E
Now updated to Revision D of the latest IPC-A-610E and J-STD-001E – our Training & Reference Guide illustrates critical acceptance criteria for the evaluation of through-hole solder connections.

IPC-DRM-SMT-E
Useful as a training aid in the classroom or on the shop floor, DRM-SMT-E contains computer generated color illustrations of Chip component, Gull Wing and J-Lead solder joints.

IPC-J-STD-033C
J-STD-033 Provides Surface Mount Device manufacturers and users with standardized methods for handling, packing, shipping and use of moisture/reflow sensitive SMDs.

IPC-J-STD-020D-1
IPC-J-STD-020D-1 standard identifies the classification levels of nonhermetic solid state surface mount devices that are sensitive to moisture-induced stress.

J-STD-075

J-STD-075 provides test methods to classify worst-case thermal process limitations for electronic components. Classification is referenced to common industry wave and reflow solder profiles including lead-free processing.

IPC Collections:

IPC-C-103 – Electronics Assembly Standards Collection

IPC-C-1000 Essential Document Collection for Board Design, Assembly and Manufacture

IPC-C-108 Cleaning Guides and Handbooks Collection

Through Electronics.ca you can order IPC standards for printed circuit board design and manufacturing and electronics assembly, including handbooks, guidelines and IPC training videos.

Learn more about European manufacturing market and publications that provide informed perspective and relevant analysis of emergent technologies.

European Manufacturing Spotlight: Trends, Innovations, and Growth

IPC-9121 Troubleshooting PCB Fabrication Processes

IPC Releases IPC-9121, Troubleshooting PCB Fabrication Processes

IPC has released IPC-9121, Troubleshooting PCB Fabrication Processes, an essential resource for anyone involved in manufacturing or purchasing printed circuit boards (PCBs). This new handbook contains more than 650 PCB process defects, with causes and corrective actions for each. It also includes hundreds of full-color photos demonstrating real-world process defects.

IPC-9121 organizes these process defects by the manufacturing steps in the process where they can occur — imaging, resists, protective coatings, drilling, surface prep, etching chemistries, lamination, final finishes, etc. — and summarizes causes and solutions for each. This resource enables the process engineer to quickly find and resolve process defects in-house, saving your company money and keeping quality product flowing to your customers.

“The IPC-9121 handbook presents common problems, solutions and correctives actions required in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards,” said Chris Jorgenson, director of technology transfer at IPC.  “It is a valuable troubleshooting tool that every process engineer involved with manufacturing of printed circuit boards should have.”

IPC-9121 is now available for purchase from Electronics.ca Publications. To order this handbook follow:  Troubleshooting PCB Fabrication Processes.

IPC-9121 Troubleshooting PCB Fabrication Processes

Internet of Things Spending by Vertical Market

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS, the electronics industry market research and knowledge network, announces the availability of a new IDC report entitled “Worldwide Internet of Things Spending by Vertical Market 2015–2018 Forecast“, which defines the IT opportunity for  all vertical markets that comprise  the burgeoning Internet of Things market. The new report segments the IoT market as well as provides a forecast that illustrates which vertical industries show the greatest market opportunity over the next several years.

As the Internet of Things IoT market starts to coalesce in both concept and solution offering, IDC recommends vendors take the next step and look at this huge IT opportunity in a more realistic and valuable framework. As exciting as the overall opportunity for the IoT market currently exists, understanding the vertical ramifications is paramount. All of the greatest IoT IT opportunities — from the connected home, smart meters, the connected car, and smart grid to personal wellness and connected health — are driven from a vertical market perspective.

The Internet of Things market must be understood in terms of vertical markets because the value of IoT is based on individual use cases across all markets. Successful sales and marketing efforts by vendors will be based on understanding the most lucrative verticals that offer current growth and future potential and then creating solutions for specific use cases that address industry-specific business processes.

IDC defines the Internet of Things concept as a wired or wireless network connecting devices, or “things,” that is characterized by autonomous provisioning, management, and monitoring. IoT already impacts our everyday life down to the smallest processes. The vertical opportunity that arises from IoT is already in play, but only if the need for vertical expertise is recognized and offered. Realizing the existence of vertical opportunity is the first step to understanding the impact — and therefore market opportunity that exists — for IT vendors. In addition:

• IDC has looked at the components, processes, and IT support for IoT and expects the technology and services revenue to expand from $4.8 trillion in 2012 to $7.3 trillion by 2017 at an 8.8% CAGR, with the greatest opportunity initially in the consumer, discrete manufacturing, and government vertical industries.


• The IoT/M2M market is growing quickly, but the development of this market will not be consistent across all vertical markets. Industries that already “understand” IoT will see the most immediate growth, such as industrial production/automotive, transportation, and energy/utilities. However, all verticals will reflect great opportunity.


• IoT is a derivative market containing many elements, including horizontal IT components as well as vertical and industry-specific IT elements. It is these vertical components where IT vendors will have to distinguish themselves to address industry-specific IoT needs.


• IoT opens up many IT vendors to the consumer market, providing B2B2C services to connect and run homes and automobiles — all the places that electronic devices will have a networking capability.

According to the report, the first step to understand how vendors can position themselves will be to understand the components of the IoT/M2M IT ecosphere. Because this is a derivative market, there are many opportunities for vendors to offer parts or product suites that cover the needed IoT IT set. And vendors will have incentive to do so due to rapid growth which will occur as industries see the convenience, productivity, and efficiency that IoT brings to business processes. Accordingly, while horizontal-focused IT vendors will look to offer IoT solutions that appeal to many industries, there will also be impetus to offer vertical-focused solutions that make IoT tangible for both industries applications (M2M) and consumer needs (B2B2C).

The IoT market will greatly impact and offer the potential for vertical-aligned businesses to improve both performance and profitability. The IoT solutions space will expand exponentially and will offer every business endless IoT-focused solutions. The initial strategy of businesses should be to avoid choosing IoT-based solutions that will solve only immediate concerns and lack ‘staying power.

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site. View the report: “”Worldwide Internet of Things Spending by Vertical Market 2015–2018 Forecast“

Internet of Things Spending by Vertical Market

Internet of Things Solutions, Business Opportunities, and IoT Forecasts 2015-2020

IoT Solutions, Business Opportunities and New Markets

The Internet of Things (IoT) is poised to fundamentally transform M2M communications, global IT support systems, and business processes in virtually every industry vertical. IoT will significantly impact wireless (short range and macro networks), network signaling, authentication, and data management systems. Embedded systems will also be at the cornerstone for IoT deployment, especially within Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications. Data generated through sensors embedded in various things/objects will generate massive amounts of unstructured (big) data on real-time basis that holds the promise for intelligence and insights

for dramatically improved decision processes.

Accordingly, there is an emerging significant business opportunity for Cloud Service Providers and Big Data Analytics within IoT.  There is an increasingly urgent need for end-to-end security for IoT systems and services as we anticipate that their intrusions will become increasingly impactful leading to the potential for operational disruption, industrial espionage, damage to enterprise assets, and even potential physical harm to human beings.

This research offering is the most comprehensive available covering business drivers, technologies, leading companies and solutions, applications, services, market segments, and future outlook for IoT.

Forecasts are provided for 2015 to 2020 for major IoT focus areas including:

* Big Data in IoT

* Security in IoT

* Smart Cities and IoT

* IoT and Data as a Service

* IoT and Embedded Systems

* IoT and the Industrial Internet

This research bundle is value-priced as the sum total of each report purchased individually would be significantly more expensive. This report bundle purchase includes time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you’re addressing. This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report.

Target Audience:

* Security companies

* Internet of Things companies

* Wireless device manufacturers

* Wearable technology suppliers

* Digital signal processor providers

* Telephony infrastructure providers

* Computer and semiconductor companies

* Embedded hardware, software and OS providers

* Mobile/wireless network operators and service providers

* Next generation application developers and content providers

* Consumer electronics merchandisers and application providers

Table of Contents:


This research package includes the following reports:

1. Data as a Service (DaaS) Market and Forecasts 2015 – 2020


2. Wireless IoT Wide Area Network (WAN) Technologies and Solutions


3. M2M, IoT, Sensors, and Connected World: Market and Forecast 2015 – 2020


4. Connected Home and IoT: Market Opportunities and Forecasts 2015 – 2020


5. M2M/IoT, Cloud, Big Data and Analytics: Market Dynamics and Opportunities


6. Connected Vehicles: Market and Forecast for LTE and Telematics Applications 2015 – 2020


7. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): Key Trends, Opportunities and Market Forecasts 2015 – 2020


8. Big Data in Internet of  Things (IoT): Key Trends, Opportunities and Market Forecasts 2015 – 2020


9. The IoT Software Market and OEM Ecosystem: Opportunities, Challenges, and Forecast 2015 – 2020


10. The IoT Hardware Market and OEM Ecosystem: Opportunities, Challenges, and Forecast 2015 – 2020


11. Internet of Things (IoT) and  Wireless Networks: Technologies, Business Drivers, and Market Outlook


12. Security and Privacy in the Internet of Things (IoT): Challenges, Market Opportunities and Forecast  2015 – 2020


13. Smart City Business Drivers,  Technologies, Companies, and Solutions: Global Outlook and Forecasts 2015 – 2020


14.  Internet of  Things (IoT) Leaders: ARM, Broadcom, Cisco, Freescale, Google, Intel, McAfee, Oracle, PTC, Qualcomm, Samsung


15. Embedded Infrastructure and Devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) Ecosystem: Next Generation Embedded System Hardware, Software, Tools, and OSs 2015 – 2020

Internet of Things Solutions, Business Opportunities, and IoT Forecasts 2015 – 2020

Published in December 2015

1,860 pages.

Single-user License:  $ 12,995 USD

Team License (Up to 5 Users):   $ 15,995 USD

Company-wide License:   $ 19,995 USD

For more information and ordering please contact Electronics.ca Publications.

Internet of Things Solutions, Business Opportunities, and IoT Forecasts 2015-2020

How Negative Interest Rates of Central Banks are Collapsing Global Economy?

The origin of negative interest rate of central banks lies in the neutral rate identified by Knut Wicksell almost a century ago. Negative interest rates meant that the rate of interest required to bring an economy back to full employment with a stable inflation, which could be even negative. The real job creators in any free market economy are not only producers but also consumers. Hence, both producers and consumers have to prosper for a robust economic growth.

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On macroeconomic level, there is a huge income inequality in global economy because of the reluctance of their central banks to follow a monetary policy which would usher a true free market economy. The Fed has also printed several trillion dollars in its ambitious Quantitative Easing (QE) program after 2008 stock market crash. As a result, the economy stabilized in 2009 and began to grow in 2010. However, real wages of Americans fell, while the corporate profits sky-rocketed. How did that happen? Because, the entire increase in government spending from rising budget deficit went into the coffers of already wealthy producers. This is how Goldman Sachs alone could give bonuses of over $20 billion to its executives in 2009, while millions of ordinary Americans were still being laid off from their jobs. While the consumer debt actually fell, the government spending and hence its debt actually rose so much that executives received hefty extra compensation.

Due to absence of a free market economy where wages keep pace with productivity, the central banks have to print dollars just to sustain deficits in respective economies. The trade deficits of the US are a result of offshoring of manufacturing Low Labor Cost (LLCs) Asian countries to increase the corporate profits of US based MNCs. With a lost domestic manufacturing in developed economies to countries in Asia, the citizens in developed countries are relegated to low paying service sector jobs. Hence, the real wages of majority of citizens in the U.S. have actually decreased with rising trade deficits. These trade deficits however have benefited the external share holders of corporations who have reaped huge profits from the rising share prices resulting from a practice of offshoring.

The growing economic disparity has also reduced the ability of low wage earning citizens to pay a fair share of their taxes. Additionally, the tax cuts that are offered to corporations have added further to national budget deficits. Now, the growing trade and budget deficits can be sustained only by means of printing more currency. With their monetary policies, the central banks like Federal Reserve (Fed) or European Central Bank (ECB) prints more money to bring down the rate of interest, and lower interest rates induces people to increase their borrowing or it increases consumer debt. As the wages fall with rising productivity resulting from technological progress, the wage-productivity gap keeps rising so fast that even the government has to raise its own spending and debt constantly to sustain an economic demand from the growing gap between wages and productivity. In this way, even the national debt keeps rising because of increased government spending.

Hence, Central banks keep printing more and more money and all the printed money keeps entering into the pockets of already wealthy individuals and corporations but such policies do not help boost domestic consumer purchasing power in economy. Hence, the real economic demand keeps stagnating and even falling in some cases. Since, wages contribute to economic demand and productivity contributes to an economic supply, wage-productivity gap contributes to demand-supply gap.

The Fed’s benchmark interest rates are already close to zero percent and just to keep the value of the dollar high in order to be able to export more goods to the U.S., the ECB entered into negative interest territory in June 2014. This unprecedented step of imposing a negative interest rate on banks for their deposits is in effect charging lenders to park money with the banks. Additionally, the monetary policies of central banks let wages trail productivity resulting in a lack of economic demand. This causes all the money that is not put into the bank accounts to not get invested into the economy due to a poor economic demand. In fact, negative interest rates are causing money to get stashed underneath mattresses, thereby steadily shrinking of the consumer credit in the economy.

When Fed hiked its benchmark interest rate by only 0.25 percent in early 2016, there was a net inflow of funds from developing economies into the U.S. This move has strengthened USD as compared to its other trading partners. The Asian trading partners like Japan are also following an unconventional monetary policy and Japanese central banks are moving into a negative interest rate territory just to maintain a net trade surplus with the U.S. Hence, any reluctance by the Fed to hike its benchmark interest rate is undone by a decision of US trading partners to enter into a negative interest rate territory.

A rising value of US dollar from all these policies is not good for the US economy as U.S. is unable to export its goods to other countries due to high value of USD. Hence, US trade deficits are steadily rising and could rise further if the Fed hikes its interest rates further in 2016. Rising USD combined with falling US exports are crashing the profits of US MNCs. All of this causes an inability of the U.S. to be able to balance its budget in order to retain its AAA rating. The corporate bonds can no longer retain an excellent credit rating when corporate profits keep crashing because of falling consumer demand in the economy.

A net inflow of capital from developing economies into the U.S. has also triggered a panic in the developing economies as they are dependent on the capital arriving from developed economies. The US based MNCs have neglected consumer demand in US economy, in search of a better RoI from Asian economies and this is crashing MNC profits in both developing as well as developed economies. Everything depends on the ability of the U.S. to service its sovereign debt which would no longer retain its AAA rating as corporate profits start crashing. The end result of all this would be exactly like what has happened with the housing market crash of 2008, but this time the crisis will be much more severe than the housing market meltdown. Once the U.S. defaults on its debt, the global economy would collapse like a ‘Fire Cracker’.

This article is a sequel to Apek Mulay’s two published articles on LinkedIn viz:

1. Negative interest rates of central banks could burst debt bubble like a fire cracker? (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140605212609-11893233-negative-interest-rates-of-central-banks-could-burst-debt-bubble-like-a-fire-cracker?trk=mp-reader-card) published on 5^th June 2014 when Negative Interest rates went into effect in Europe.


2. Negative Interest Rates of Banks – Part 2 (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/negative-interest-rates-banks-part-2-apekshit-mulay-apek-?trk=mp-reader-card)

Author’ Bio –

Apek Mulay is Business and Technology Consultant at Mulay’s Consultancy Services. He is also a senior analyst and macroeconomist in US Semiconductor Industry. He is author of book Mass Capitalism: A Blueprint for Economic Revival. Mulay has also authored another book Sustaining Moore’s Law: Uncertainty leading to a Certainty of IoT Revolution with Morgan & Claypool publishers. He pursued undergraduate studies in Electronics Engineering (EE) at the University of Mumbai in India and has completed master’s degree in EE at Texas Tech University, Lubbock. Mulay authored a patent “Surface Imaging with Materials Identified by Colors” during his employment in Advanced CMOS technology development team at Texas Instruments Inc. He has also chaired technical sessions at International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis (ISTFA) for consecutive years. USCIS approved his US permanent residency under the category of foreign nationals with extraordinary abilities in science and technologies even though he did not pursue a PhD degree in engineering or economics. He has been cited as an ‘Engineer-cum-Economist’ by superstar economist Professor Ravi Batra in his 2015 Volume ‘End Unemployment Now: How to Eliminate Poverty, Debt and Joblessness despite Congress’. He has appeared on National Radio shows, made Cover Story for Industry Magazines, authors articles for newspapers as well as several reputed blogs & industry publications, as well as has been invited on several Television shows ( because of his accurate macroeconomic forecasts ) for his ideas about Mass Capitalism. He is also an investing partner in an ecommerce business Calcuttahandicraft.in which he started to envision his ideas about Mass Capitalism. www.ApekMulay.com.

www.apekmulay.com

 

 

How Negative Interest Rates of Central Banks are Collapsing Global Economy?

Internet of Things Spending by Vertical Market

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS, the electronics industry market research and knowledge network, announces the availability of a new IDC report entitled “Worldwide Internet of Things Spending by Vertical Market 2015–2018 Forecast“, which defines the IT opportunity for  all vertical markets that comprise  the burgeoning Internet of Things market. The new report segments the IoT market as well as provides a forecast that illustrates which vertical industries show the greatest market opportunity over the next several years.

As the Internet of Things IoT market starts to coalesce in both concept and solution offering, IDC recommends vendors take the next step and look at this huge IT opportunity in a more realistic and valuable framework. As exciting as the overall opportunity for the IoT market currently exists, understanding the vertical ramifications is paramount. All of the greatest IoT IT opportunities — from the connected home, smart meters, the connected car, and smart grid to personal wellness and connected health — are driven from a vertical market perspective.

The Internet of Things market must be understood in terms of vertical markets because the value of IoT is based on individual use cases across all markets. Successful sales and marketing efforts by vendors will be based on understanding the most lucrative verticals that offer current growth and future potential and then creating solutions for specific use cases that address industry-specific business processes.

IDC defines the Internet of Things concept as a wired or wireless network connecting devices, or “things,” that is characterized by autonomous provisioning, management, and monitoring. IoT already impacts our everyday life down to the smallest processes. The vertical opportunity that arises from IoT is already in play, but only if the need for vertical expertise is recognized and offered. Realizing the existence of vertical opportunity is the first step to understanding the impact — and therefore market opportunity that exists — for IT vendors. In addition:

• IDC has looked at the components, processes, and IT support for IoT and expects the technology and services revenue to expand from $4.8 trillion in 2012 to $7.3 trillion by 2017 at an 8.8% CAGR, with the greatest opportunity initially in the consumer, discrete manufacturing, and government vertical industries.


• The IoT/M2M market is growing quickly, but the development of this market will not be consistent across all vertical markets. Industries that already “understand” IoT will see the most immediate growth, such as industrial production/automotive, transportation, and energy/utilities. However, all verticals will reflect great opportunity.


• IoT is a derivative market containing many elements, including horizontal IT components as well as vertical and industry-specific IT elements. It is these vertical components where IT vendors will have to distinguish themselves to address industry-specific IoT needs.


• IoT opens up many IT vendors to the consumer market, providing B2B2C services to connect and run homes and automobiles — all the places that electronic devices will have a networking capability.

According to the report, the first step to understand how vendors can position themselves will be to understand the components of the IoT/M2M IT ecosphere. Because this is a derivative market, there are many opportunities for vendors to offer parts or product suites that cover the needed IoT IT set. And vendors will have incentive to do so due to rapid growth which will occur as industries see the convenience, productivity, and efficiency that IoT brings to business processes. Accordingly, while horizontal-focused IT vendors will look to offer IoT solutions that appeal to many industries, there will also be impetus to offer vertical-focused solutions that make IoT tangible for both industries applications (M2M) and consumer needs (B2B2C).

The IoT market will greatly impact and offer the potential for vertical-aligned businesses to improve both performance and profitability. The IoT solutions space will expand exponentially and will offer every business endless IoT-focused solutions. The initial strategy of businesses should be to avoid choosing IoT-based solutions that will solve only immediate concerns and lack ‘staying power.

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site. View the report: “”Worldwide Internet of Things Spending by Vertical Market 2015–2018 Forecast“

Internet of Things Spending by Vertical Market

Conductive Inks and Pastes Markets - New Battlegrounds are Emerging

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS announces the availability of a new report entitled “Conductive Ink Markets 2016-2026: Forecasts, Technologies, Players“. Conductive inks and pastes remains one of the largest sectors in all of printed electronics. The conductive inks and pastes market will reach nearly $1.7b in 2026 at current metal prices. Micro-sized silver conductive pastes will dominate the market, controlling nearly the entire market in 2016. Silver nanoparticles will however become increasingly competitive, finding use in a range for emerging applications sectors to become an $80m market in 2026.

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Copper will remain a comparatively immature technology but will achieve limited success as novel curing systems are installed to open the door to copper ink sales.The solar panel industry will be 1.5 k tonne market in 2016 for screen-printed firing-type conductive pastes. At the paste level, a new group of suppliers will soon come to dominate this business whilst at the powder level the users will force through a more diversified supplier base.

The touch screen edge electrode market will continue its decline. The linewidth-over-spacing (L/S) has decreased to 20/20, pushing screen printing with standard PTFs beyond its limits and opening the door to photocurable pastes. Etching-based techniques will find additional opportunities as the bezel is further narrowed whilst standard PTFs will retain some share in the low-cost end of the market.Sensors such as car occupancy sensors, printed piezoresistive sensors and some versions of glucose sensors will remain a substantial niche market for conductive pastes, as will the automotive sector with its mixed grouping of stagnant traditional and high-growth emerging applications. HF and UHF RFID antenna markets will grow but will see the relative market share of ink types transform over the coming decade. 3D antennas made using aerosol printing will continue gaining traction.

This approach will compete head-on with MID (molded interconnect devices) techniques and will become a substantial player in the consumer electronics market. Metal mesh as an ITO alternative will make slow inroads despite the pending consolidation period in the TCF industry, creating demand for silver nanoparticle used in filling or printing fine lines.New markets will emerge and create new performance requirements. In-mould electronics will demand inks that can stretch and survive the thermoforming/molding process.

Electronic textiles will require inks that are truly stretchable and withstand repeated washing cycles. 3D printed electronics and desktop PCB printers will need the high conductivity and low temperature inks to open vast new prototyping possibilities for 3D printers and circuit designers. All these markets are poised for rapid growth provided technology innovations can satisfy the market pull.Ten-year market projections split by application. Please contact us for the exact values. Note that ink selling prices have declined thanks to a decline in raw metal prices but also pressured margins, resulting in a decrease in our revenue forecasts.

Conductive Ink/Paste Market Report Provides:

1. Ten year market forecasts by technology market share, volume demand and market value in 14 market segments including:

• automotive


• touch


• photovoltaics


• RFID


• sensors


• smart packaging


• logic and memory, etc.

2. Comprehensive technology assessment, benchmarking and competitive landscaping for silver flake pastes, silver nanoparticle inks, copper nano and flake pastes and inks, graphene and carbon nanotubes, PEDOT, and silver nanowires.

3. Detailed application assessment including dynamics and drivers.

4. Competitive business intelligence on all key industry players including over 50 profiles based on direct interviews and/or visits.

10-year CAGR rates for conductive inks and paste market

Source: Conductive Ink Markets 2016-2026: Forecasts, Technologies, and Players

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site.  View the report: Conductive Ink Markets 2016-2026: Forecasts, Technologies, Players.

Conductive Inks and Pastes Markets - New Battlegrounds are Emerging

What is New in IPC Standards A-610F-WAM1 & J-STD-001F-WAM1 ?

In order to keep up with industry demand, IPC has released amendments for J-STD-001F, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies, and IPC-A-610F, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies. For each standard, IPC-A-610F Amendment 1 and IPC J-STD-001F Amendment 1 represents a critical shift to deliver necessary updates to these already robust standards.

In order for a standard to be successful, it needs to grow and evolve with industry demand. To achieve this, IPC has released two new amendments that address evolving manufacturing requirements. The first amendment is for J-STD-001F, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies. This standard is recognized worldwide as the sole industry-consensus standard covering soldering materials and processes, including support for both traditional solder alloys and for lead-free manufacturing.

The second amendment is for IPC-A-610F, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies. This widely used standard is a must for all quality assurance and assembly departments. This standard illustrates industry-accepted workmanship criteria for electronics assemblies through detailed statements reflecting acceptable and defect conditions.

For each standard, IPC-A-610F Amendment 1 and IPC J-STD-001F Amendment 1 embodies a critical shift to deliver necessary updates to these already robust standards. Both amendments tackle a variety of issues manufactures are currently facing in the electronics industry.

Included with this is the reintroduction of the Space Shuttle symbol to show where there are different criteria in the J-STD-001FS, Space Applications Electronic Hardware Addendum to IPC J-STD-001F. Other topics range from vertical hole fill to BGA voiding, as well as the revision of Class 2 requirements for vertical solder fill on plated through holes with less than 14 leads to include requirements when there is a connected internal thermal plane. The amendments also work toeliminate requirements for BGA voiding for BGA components with noncollapsing balls.

IPC-A-610 Revision F with Amendment 1 and J-STD -001 Revision F with Amendment 1, where the Amendment 1 is incorporated into the document, are being released in this new format for customers who want the criteria presented in one document. To make it clear, the documents in this format are not redline documents and do not show where the changes were made from Revision F to the Amendment.

In both instances, the emphasis is on quality.  These IPC documents can be purchased from Electronics.ca Publications as a Printed Copy, or PDF download with single user, site user, or global user license:

A-610F-WAM1, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies Revision F with Amendment 1 (NEW FORMAT)

J-STD-001F-WAM1, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies Revision F with Amendment 1 (NEW FORMAT)

What is New in IPC Standards A-610F-WAM1 & J-STD-001F-WAM1 ?

Download IPC Standards - Everything You Need From Start To Finish

To achieve a high quality end product and maintain a competitive position in the marketplace, you need to infuse quality throughout the manufacturing process.

Did you know there is an IPC standard associated with nearly every step of printed circuit board production and assembly?  From design and purchasing to assembly and acceptance, Electronics.ca Publications offers IPC Standards to help you assure superior quality, reliability and consistency in the electronic assemblies that go into your product. Download IPC Standards Spec Tree – PDF file.

As with the manufacturing process — which uses a step-by-step approach – IPC standards also build upon one another. To achieve your desired results, it’s important to implement the appropriate IPC standards associated with each step of production.

Download IPC Standards Spec Tree – PDF File

Why Use IPC Standards in Your Manufacturing Process?

• Gain Control Over End Product Quality and Reliability — Quality and reliability are the cornerstones of competing in the marketplace and critical to your company’s reputation and profitability. By implementing IPC standards throughout the manufacturing process, you help ensure better performance, longer life and compliance with lead-free regulations.


• Improve Communication with Suppliers and Employees — IPC standards are the standards that your competitors, suppliers and EMS providers use. Working from an established IPC standard helps all of you to “speak the same language” — the language of the global electronic industry. In addition, using IPC standards eliminates confusion for employees, because they know they need to perform to an established industry standard.


• Help Contain Costs — Ensuring that your design and the bare boards you purchase comply with IPC standards allows you to produce electronic assemblies that meet stringent quality tests down the line, minimizing costly delays, rework and scrap.

The Most Popular IPC Documents are available from Electronics.ca Publications in PDF Format

Download IPC Standards

IPC A-610F – Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies
IPC-A-610 is the most widely used electronics assembly standard in the world. A must for all quality assurance and assembly departments.

IPC J-STD-001F – Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies
J-STD-001 Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies has emerged as the preeminent authority for electronics assembly manufacturing. The standard describes materials, methods and verification criteria for producing high quality soldered interconnections. The standard emphasizes process control and sets industry-consensus requirements for a broad range of electronic products. This revision now includes support for lead free manufacturing.

IPC A-620B – Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies
Revision B is now available for the only industry-consensus standard for Requirements and Acceptance of Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies.

IPC-DRM-PTH-E
Now updated to Revision D of the latest IPC-A-610E and J-STD-001E – our Training & Reference Guide illustrates critical acceptance criteria for the evaluation of through-hole solder connections.

IPC-DRM-SMT-E
Useful as a training aid in the classroom or on the shop floor, DRM-SMT-E contains computer generated color illustrations of Chip component, Gull Wing and J-Lead solder joints.

IPC-J-STD-033C
J-STD-033 Provides Surface Mount Device manufacturers and users with standardized methods for handling, packing, shipping and use of moisture/reflow sensitive SMDs.

IPC-J-STD-020D-1
IPC-J-STD-020D-1 standard identifies the classification levels of nonhermetic solid state surface mount devices that are sensitive to moisture-induced stress.

J-STD-075

J-STD-075 provides test methods to classify worst-case thermal process limitations for electronic components. Classification is referenced to common industry wave and reflow solder profiles including lead-free processing.

IPC Collections:

IPC-C-103 – Electronics Assembly Standards Collection

IPC-C-1000 Essential Document Collection for Board Design, Assembly and Manufacture

IPC-C-108 Cleaning Guides and Handbooks Collection

Through Electronics.ca you can order IPC standards for printed circuit board design and manufacturing and electronics assembly, including handbooks, guidelines and IPC training videos.

Download IPC Standards - Everything You Need From Start To Finish

Graphene and 2D Materials Technologies, Production & End-User Markets

Two-dimensional(2D) materials are currently one of the most active areas of nano-materials research, and offer a huge opportunity for both fundamental studies and practical applications, including superfast, low-power, flexible and wearable electronics, sensors, photonics and electrochemical energy storage devices that will have an immense impact on our society.

Graphene is a ground-breaking two-dimensional (2D) material that possesses extraordinary electrical and mechanical properties that promise a new generation of innovative devices. New methods of scalable synthesis of high-quality graphene, clean delamination transfer and device integration have resulted in the commercialization of state-of-the-art electronics such as graphene touchscreens in smartphones and flexible RF devices on plastics.

Beyond graphene, emerging elementary 2D materials such as phosphorene and silicene will potentially allow for flexible electronics and field-effect transistors that exhibit ambipolar transport behaviour with either a direct band-gap or greater gate modulation.

Graphene exhibits a unique combination of mechanical, thermal, electronic and optical properties that provide opportunities for new innovation in flexible displays, transistors, photosensors, RFID tags, solar cells, secondary batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, conductive inks, EMI shielding heat insulation, anti-oxidation, LEDs across multiple industries including consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace, medicine, energy, 3D printing, polymer composites, wireless technology, filtration and coatings.

Graphene possesses (theoretically) record high electrical and thermal conductivity, transparency at all wavelengths, flexibility and outstanding mechanical strength. The global market for graphene continues to grow with weekly technology and production breakthroughs, new public and private investments and public listings of graphene producers. There are now over 150 companies either producing graphene or developing applications, with as many multi-nationals conducting R&D on these materials.

Relatively few graphene products have reached the market as yet, and until recently those that have mainly incorporate graphene additives to enhance toughness and flexibility. Products include smartphone touchscreens (Wuxi), tennis rackets (Head), bicycle rims (Vittoria), flexible battery straps and printed RFID antennas (Vorbeck), paint (Graphenstone), cycle helmets (Catlike), thermometers (Linktop Technology) and oil-drilling muds (Graphene Nanochem).

However, a number of energy related products have hit the market in 2015, including Zap&Go, a graphene supercapacitor that can help extend the battery life of smartphones, produced by Zapgocharger. Skeleton Technologies has also launched a graphene-enhanced supercapacitor with a capacitance of 4500 farads.

Graphene Lighting PLC has announced that a graphene light bulb with lower energy emissions, longer lifetime and lower manufacturing cost will be launched in 2015. In March, Graphene 3D Labs, Inc. announced the commercial availability of 3D graphene filaments for 3D printing applications. Sher-Wood Hockey has announced they are bringing a graphene-enhanced carbon fibre Rekker EK60 hocky stick to market. UK company Xefro has created a graphene-based heating system that can reduce energy costs up to 70 per cent. The product, gRAD, uses graphene as a heating element. Graphene Nanochem recently won a $28 million order from an oil company for its PlatDrill Series drilling fluid.

There is likely to be significant short-term opportunities in applications such conductive formulations and inks for printable electronics, coatings and electronic textiles; anti-corrosion coatings; current collector and separator coatings; thermal management; Li-ion batteries; Li-S batteries; supercapacitors (mainly for mobile electronics applications); EMI shielding materials and in anti-static and mechanical reinforced composites and barrier films. In most of these applications scale-up is relatively straightforward and performance benefits have been clearly demonstrated.

Medium-term growth will be witnessed in sensors and desalination membranes. Longer-term bets are in organic electronics applications (OLED, displays and solar PV), semiconductors and biomedicine. For graphene to meets its outstanding potential a number of significant challenges most be overcome. Low cost production processes must be developed and these production processes must be both scalable and suitable for integration into existing manufacturing processes and regulations. The challenges of consistently integrating graphene into products, either as graphene compounds or graphene components must also be met. Graphene also faces competition from incumbent materials such as carbon black, graphite and activated carbon that are relatively cheaper at present and already large-volume commodities.

Graphene and 2D Materials Market Opportunities Report

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site. View Report Contents: “The Global Market for Graphene and 2-D Materials: Technologies, Production, End User Markets and Opportunities Analysis, 2015-2025“.

WHAT DOES THE REPORT INCLUDE?

• Comprehensive quantitative data and forecasts for the global graphene market to 2025.


• Qualitative insight and perspective on the current market and future trends in end user markets based on interviews with key executives.


• End user market analysis and technology timelines.


• Financial estimates for the markets graphene will impact.


• Patent analysis.


• Competitive analysis of carbon nanotubes versus graphene.


• Comparative analysis of graphene and other 2D Materials.


• Tables and figures illustrating graphene market size


• Full company profiles of graphene producers and application developers including technology descriptions and end user markets targeted


• Profiles of prominent research centres


• Industry activity and breakthroughs by market 2013-2016.

Graphene and 2D Materials Technologies, Production & End-User Markets

2016 Vertical Markets for IoT Connector Products

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS announces the availability of a new five chapter, 162 page research report analyzing the impact the Internet of Things (IoT) will have on the connector market. This first volume, which focuses on the consumer, computer and telecom market sectors, provides a look at the applications and connectors used in these applications that will most be influenced by the growth of the IoT.

Some think that the Internet of Things (IoT) term was coined rather recently, but it was used as early as 2009 by Kevin Ashton to describe the new idea of linking RFID in Proctor & Gamble’s supply chain to the Internet. He used it to describe his vision of computers keeping track of and counting everything, as opposed to people feeding this information into computers by typing, pressing a record button, taking a digital picture or scanning a bar code. Ashton’s vision is this: “If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best. We need to empower computers with their own means of gathering information, so they can see, hear and smell the world for themselves, in all its random glory. RFID and sensor technology enable computers to observe, identify and understand the world—without the limitations of human-entered data.”

While the IoT is not quite at the level that Ashton envisioned yet, it is well on its way with a plethora of “things” being tracked. These “things” range from a Fitbit you wear on your wrist to track your health and fitness to tracking farmers’ tractors and everything in between. These “things” are pervasive in our everyday lives now and new ones are being invented at increasing rates.

The goal of this report is to explain the different IoT vertical markets and technologies and to detail the effects these may have on the connector industry. Chapter 2 of the report covers definitions that will be used throughout the report, and Chapter 3 highlights the wireless technologies and trends in the IoT market specific to telecommunications, computer and consumer devices. Detailed in Chapter 4 are IoT devices and applications and the specific connector products that are affected by them. In Chapter 5, five-year forecasts for these connectors segmented by region, market segment and Bishop’s traditional connector categories are provided. In addition, included are forecasts for specific connector product types that are poised for growth due to IoT applications. These include modular jacks used in networking applications; board-mount high-speed I/O; USB; micro-coax for smartphones; FPC/FFC used in portable devices; and HDMI used in HDTVs and displays.

The total market for IoT connector products sold into computer, consumer and telecom applications reached more than $14.5 billion in 2015 and is anticipated to grow significantly by 2020, resulting in substantial increases in a number of key connector products.

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site. View Report Contents: The Internet of Things Impact on the Connector Industry.

2016 Vertical Markets for IoT Connector Products

Asian Semiconductor Equipment Suppliers to Lose Market Share in 2015

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS announces the availability of a new report entitled “Asian Semiconductor Equipment Suppliers: Markets, Market Shares, Market Forecasts”. According to this report, semiconductor equipment suppliers headquartered in Asia will drop from 36.6% of the global wafer front end (WFE) market in 2014.  Revenues generated in U.S. Dollar terms were $10.6 billion out of a global market of $29.2 Billion.

Listed below are the top 10 Asian semiconductor suppliers and their revenue.

Supplier	Country	2014 Revenues (US$Billions)
Tokyo Electron	Japan	4.7
Screen Semiconductor Solutions	Japan	1.1
Hitachi High-Technologies	Japan	0.9
Nikon	Japan	0.8
Hitachi Kokusai Electric	Japan	0.6
SEMES	Korea	0.5
Daifuku	Japan	0.3
NuFlare Technology	Japan	0.3
Tokyo Seimitsu	Japan	0.3
Murata Machinery	Japan	0.3
Source: The Information Network

“Share of revenues will drop to 33.4% in 2015, noted Dr. Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network, primarily due to the strong U.S. dollar, which has appreciated nearly 15% from 2014 levels.”

The report notes, for example, that Japan’s Tokyo Electron exhibited revenue growth of 16.3% in Yen for the first three quarters of CY 2015.  However, when converted to US Dollars, the universally accepted currency historically used for market share data in the semiconductor industry, revenues show a revenue growth of just 1.2%.

“The strong US Dollar not only impacts the Japanese suppliers, but other Asian suppliers and even European suppliers,” added Dr. Castellano.

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications’ web site.  View Report Contents: “Asian Semiconductor Equipment Suppliers: Markets, Market Shares, Market Forecasts“.

Asian Semiconductor Equipment Suppliers to Lose Market Share in 2015