Hardware Podcasts

NVR's Randall Sherman Review the EMS 50 on EMS@C-Level with Philip Stoten

EMS@C-LEVEL · 1 May 2023 · 14m

What this episode covers

Randall Sherman, founder and CEO of New Venture Research, joins host Philip Stoten to review the 2022 EMS 50 report, highlighting 9.5% industry growth driven by smartphones and PCs. They analyze the contrasting performance of large Taiwanese players like Foxconn and Pegatron, attributing their slower growth to geopolitical risks and consumer market saturation. The discussion covers the resurgence of the ODM model, the profitability of European EMS firms like Scanfil and Note, and ongoing consolidation through M&A activity among major players such as Celestica and Benchmark.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
New Venture Research, Foxconn, Pegatron, BYD, Scanfil, Note, Celestica, Benchmark, Flex, USI, Koh Young, CloudNC

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • OnTrack · 38m

    PCB Industry Evolution: From Mom & Pop Shops to Consolidation

    Dan Beaulieu, founder and president of DB Management Group, discusses the consolidation of the North American PCB manufacturing industry, noting a drop from 1,300 shops in 2005 to roughly 130 today, with 90 under $5 million in revenue. He highlights the rise of substrate fabrication as a key growth area, citing RemTech and Brian Bullier, and explores the potential for captive manufacturing models similar to those seen with Elon Musk’s Texas facility. Beaulieu also emphasizes that superior customer service and meaningful training are critical differentiators for surviving small shops in a consolidating market.

    Manufacturing partners & offshoringScaling production
    7 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 13m

    eReaders, datasheets & board assembly - Yearly Yeasty Yapping

    Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the challenges of chip obsolescence, specifically Texas Instruments discontinuing the Stellaris Arm Cortex-M line, and the broader industry trend of major semiconductor companies like Freescale and NXP going 'lean' due to debt. They analyze the trade-offs of local versus overseas manufacturing, with Jones advocating for local production to mitigate risk despite higher costs. The hosts also review Bunny's open-source hardware laptop project, highlighting its design decisions, and examine a low-cost Chinese desktop pick-and-place machine.

    Sourcing & supply chainManufacturing partners & offshoring
    8 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 23m

    Part Choice Triathlon

    Chris Gammell and Dave Jones discuss the operational challenges of managing large makerspaces, such as the Case Western Reserve University innovation center, focusing on the need for active staffing and mentorship to prevent resource abuse. They analyze the consolidation of the semiconductor industry, specifically the bidding war for Maxim Integrated by Texas Instruments and Analog Devices, and the implications for component sourcing. The conversation also covers the controversy surrounding Siglent's enforcement of pricing policies on eBay and the technical details of the OSHchip, a DIP-packaged Bluetooth module by Philip Freidin.

    Manufacturing partners & offshoringChips, FPGAs & semiconductors
    7 chapters

  • The Circuit · 41m

    Episode 16: Is the Semiconductor Growth Cycle Over?

    Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg discuss the current state of the semiconductor industry, arguing that while secular growth continues, the recent hyper-growth cycle has ended due to saturation in smartphones and PCs. They analyze how industry consolidation, particularly by Broadcom, has created pricing power for a few key players like Nvidia and TSMC, while smaller vendors struggle with supply access and commoditization. The hosts also explore the constraints of leading-edge capacity, the potential for chiplet architectures to utilize older nodes like 7nm, and the rising influence of Chinese foundry SMIC.

    Pricing, margins & unit economicsSourcing & supply chain
    6 chapters

  • OnTrack · 52m

    Breaking Down Electronics Manufacturing with Jay Patel

    Jay Patel, CEO of Amtech, an EMS provider in Michigan, discusses the transition from prototyping to volume production, emphasizing the critical role of supply chain risk analysis and the shift of component manufacturers like Texas Instruments selling directly to OEMs. He highlights Amtech's use of vapor phase reflow and AI-based inspection to ensure quality in high-mix, mid-volume production, while explaining how Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) rules help reduce costs and defects. Patel also addresses the industry's lack of standardized data formats, advocating for the adoption of IPC-2581 to streamline communication between designers, EMS providers, and PCB fabricators.

    Design for manufacturing & NPISourcing & supply chain
    6 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by EMS@C-LEVEL. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.