When the going gets tough, the tough get going. And the last two years, well, have been rough. The pandemic, labor shortages, natural disasters, and geopolitical tension have had rippling effects throughout the world. Everyone from baristas running out of favorite coffee flavors to Apple cutting iPhone production, is hurting. Industry experts and market analysts are warning things are going to get worse before they get better.
Chips. They’re in your coffee maker, smartphone, thermostat, ring camera, smoke detector, and more. If it has an electric pulse, it has a chip. The amount of chips inside each device varies, but the fact of the matter remains the same. The world runs on chips. The shortage has only amplified its importance. It’s also drawn attention to a very big issue.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been hard on everyone. “Of all the industries affected by Covid-related supply chain issues, the electronics industry has arguably been hit hardest,” according to AllAboutCircuits.com. The change from in-office to work-from-home triggered an ever-rising demand for digital products. Consumers want faster networks, smarter home appliances, and fast shipping as e-commerce booms.
Chips, everyone wants them. Everyone needs them. Now that we are at the tail end of Q4 and on the last leg of our sprint toward 2022, it’s time to revisit the market. These updates come as a mixed bag. Passive components as a whole are stabilizing with only a few outliers, like oscillators and aluminum capacitors, increasing in lead time. Some components, semiconductors especially, have updated lead times reaching up to 80 weeks, according to the Register. That’s May 2023, over a year from now.
In the midst of exciting and significant technological advancements, the demand for electronic components, hardware, and assemblies is at a record high across industries such as automotive and transportation, industrial and automation, aerospace and defense, energy, and medical. As a result, components have become extremely hard to come by, to say the least. A lot of what companies are able to find are suspected counterfeit or counterfeit components. So the question becomes this: when looking to secure hard-to-find obsolete, or in-high-demand components, is it best to work with an authorized distributor or an independent distributor?
Picture this. You’ve plugged in your new refrigerator into an electrical outlet. But then, something happens. A faint burn smell fills the air. Smoke starts rising from behind the appliance. A small fire is about to break out. You get the picture. This scenario is something the team at SETsafe | SETfuse works hard to prevent. The manufacturer of circuit protection solutions and components is known for their innovative solutions for high standard safety and protection.
With about a month left in 2021, it seems like only yesterday the world was celebrating the end of 2020. The holiday shopping season is in full swing once again. But this year’s traditional shopping spree will be more of a mad dash than normal. The reasons? The ongoing chip shortage and supply chain issues. So far, industry experts are saying there’s still no foreseeable end to these issues—which will have a drastic effect on this year’s holiday shopping season.
While the ongoing chip shortage and supply chain issues continues to dominate the news these days, one thing you probably haven’t heard about much is – what happens when you do get your hands on that much-desired electronic part? For some distributors, it’s more than just a short-term “win.” It’s about delivering a complete, end-to-end customer experience.
Will diversifying your supply chain solve the issues that come with the global semiconductor shortage? Not entirely—but diversifying your supply chain can absolutely help you optimize your supply chain and even secure hard-to-find or obsolete electronic components during the semiconductor shortage.
P-DUKE, a leading manufacturer of high quality AC/DC and DC/DC power supplies, recently launched a series of innovative 6-watt AC/DC power supplies, the PSC06HS line. The new series supports wide input voltage from 85-530VAC, which can cover from 100, 115, 230, and 277VAC single-phase nominal supply voltage, or up to 480VAC three-phase line-to-line supply voltage for universal power supply.
