Last year, the ecsn (Electronic Components Supply Network), the body which represents authorised distributors in the UK and Eire, reported that its members were entering 2025 with “extreme caution”. Customer demand was difficult to judge amid trade issues and high customer in-house inventory levels. Its forecast for 2026 is in a similar vein as global trade issues, such as trade ...
Market Research
SEMI forecasts $1tn semiconductor market by 2030
Spending on 300mm fab equipment is expected to reach $107bn in 2025, according to the 300mmm Fab Outlook report by SEMI. The sector is expected to grow 7% this year and 9% in 2026 to reach $116bn, a 4% increase in 2027 followed by a 15% increase and total worldwide expenditure of $138bn in 2028. Over the next three years, ...
ECSN: cautious optimism for 2024
Last year, Aubrey Dunford, the ECSN (Electronic Components Supply Network) market analyst declared the UK electronics components market had returned to normality. At this year’s Electronics Components Forecast, he reclassified its status as a new, new normal. At the end of 2022, ECSN suppliers were preparing for 2023 with strong order books and confidence in customer demand and an expectation ...
IET: ‘Engineers most trusted after nurses’
87% of people trust engineers to tell them the truth, after nurses an 89% and before doctors at 85%, according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). “Engineers are one of only three professions whose trust score has improved since 2021,” it said. “Out of a list of 30 different professions, engineers are the second most trusted in Great ...
EngineeringUK: UK could be sleep walking towards a net zero skills shortage
Not-for-profit EngineeringUK is warning that lack of Government planning and resources in the STEM educational pipeline is putting de-carbonisation at risk. “It’s clear that we could be sleep-walking towards a net zero engineering skills shortage without knowing how big the skills and educational gaps are and where they are,” said EngineeringUK head of environmental sustainability Mike Hardisty. “We need to ...
Embedded World: No shortage of industrial Raspberry Pi MCUs
At Embedded World today, Raspberry Pi was giving away its Pico development boards to all comers, to emphasise that there is no shortage of its RP2040 microcontroller, which was recently qualified for the industrial -40 to +85°C temperature range – previously it was to -20°C. “We risk-bought quite a lot of wafers, and could sell one to two million per ...
Cardboard boxes are greener than plastic alternatives?
Carton packaging for small electrical goods has a lower carbon footprint than plastic alternatives, according to Pro Carton, the European association for carton and cartonboard manufacturers, which is highlighting a report written by the bio-economy unit of the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE). Cartonboard is an industry name for non-corrugated cardboard or packaging card. The research compares the cradle-to-grave carbon ...
Parliamentary committee calls for transparency and no bias when artificial intelligence meets the public
The UK Parliament’s Committee on Standards in Public Life has warned of the potential for obscure and biased decision-making as artificial intelligence is used by the public sector, in a report on artificial intelligence and its impact on public standards. It sees no need for a Government AI regulator, but recommends (detail below) that government ensure high standards of conduct are upheld. “Artificial ...
Survey results show Britons unconcerned about smart home security
A survey carried out by Specops Software, a “password management and authentication solution vendor,” asked 1,230 people from the UK and US their opinions on the security of smart home devices. A majority of UK respondents proved unaware that the devices could be hacked, with only 27% demonstrating knowledge of the risk. This compared to 45% of Americans who are ...
Cisco, Autodesk, Osram and TSMC amongst world’s sustainable companies
Amongst the worlds companies, Cisco is the fourth most sustainable, CAD company Autodesk fifth and semiconductor-maker Osram is not far behind, while TSMC is 25th, according to the ‘Global 100 Index’, collated annually by Canadian research company Corporate Knights. “For the second time in a row Osram made it into the Global 100 Index. Among the 7,400 companies evaluated worldwide, ...
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