Although the semiconductor chip and capital equipment markets performed well in the first half of 2020, many of the electronic equipment end markets struggled globally. World electronic equipment sales declined almost 10% in 2Q’20 vs. 2Q’19...

Things are picking up.

COVID-19 has forced all the players in the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain to reassess how much inventory they need to hold.

Global Manufacturing Activity

The World Bank just released its updated Global Outlook for 2020 and 2021. The text is long but very worth reading. 

Uncertainty has gripped the silicon wafer market as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to upend growth projections for 2020. Declines in both shipments and revenue plagued the silicon wafer market in 2019, a downturn that had given way to optimism...

World Manufacturing Growth Flat to Start 2020 (Chart 1) 

The December Global Purchasing Managers Index was in zero growth territory (PMI = 50). However, the various country components varied significantly. With IHS Markit PMI data as a gauge of...

The November Global Purchasing Managers Index moved back into expansion territory (Chart 1). Admittedly results varied significantly by country but world global manufacturing activity resumed growth at year end.

Despite a tough year for critical subsystem suppliers, their overall expenditure on research and development has remained at near record levels – evidence that critical subsystems are indeed critical to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment...

Reports of 2Q’19 financials from all of the major OEMs in our 213 company global sample show that their electronic equipment sales declined 1.4 percent compared to the same quarter of last year (Chart 1). This OEM group’s combined sales growth...