So far, 2014’s facts and figures show the connector industry in a sweet spot: The first three months suggest the full year is going to result in high single-digit growth. There are three issues that can create turmoil in the connector industry and cause a serious drop in profitability when they are experienced: Decline in connector demandRead More

The results of Bishop & Associates’ annual distributor customer survey have been tallied and presented at EDS. Read on to find out which distributors are the best for service, breadth of product, delivery, and price. Bishop & Associates conducts an annual survey of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contract manufacturers (CEMs), and cable assemblers (CAs) inRead More

PC unit sales declined 10% in 2013 for the second straight year of contraction, as the computer market contracts and swaps PCs for tablets and smartphones. Bishop tracks 11 companies in the computer market sector and 10 companies in the peripheral market sector. This market has been in contraction, as measured by these 21 companies,Read More

So, how big is web traffic? The numbers in this world wide web traffic report are almost beyond comprehension. Cisco estimates that in 2013, world wide web traffic reached an average monthly volume of 55.6 exabytes. One exabyte equals 1,000 petabytes. A petabyte equals 1,000 terabytes. Confused? These are incredibly large numbers! To give itRead More

Hydroelectric power generation, the largest renewable energy source, supplied 16% of the worldwide electrical needs in 2012, but wind turbine energy is growing at a much faster pace. Read this wind turbine power market report for the details. Other than hydroelectric power plants, wind turbine power has become the largest renewable/green energy source in theRead More

Trends in the global military/aerospace cable assembly market vary greatly by region, as they are significantly impacted by individual governments, policies, and budgets. That’s why the military market continues to contract. Bishop tracks 11 companies in the military/aerospace market sector. Growth in the military/aerospace market, as measured by these 11 companies, has been poor inRead More

2013 was a pretty good year for the automotive industry, based on sales of passenger cars. Here is Bishop & Associates’ 2013 passenger car market recap and what it means for the connector industry. 2013 was a pretty good year for the automotive industry based on sales of passenger cars (which does not include lightRead More

Consumers are now spending more money than they have in the past five years, which accounts for the North American market’s strength. Here are the facts and figures. In the last six months of 2013, the US economy experienced some of the strongest growth it has seen in a decade. On a year-over-year basis, theRead More

The semiconductor market surges as booming sales of cars, smartphones, and tablets drive sales to new highs. Bishop tracks 13 companies in the semiconductor market sector. Growth in the semiconductor market, as measured by these 13 companies, was strong in 2013. For the full year, the market grew 5.7% over 2012. Trends in the globalRead More

As goes the semiconductor market, so go interconnects. The Semiconductor Industry Association shares the five things to know about global semiconductor sales now. 1. Global semiconductor sales reached a record high in 2013. Worldwide semiconductor sales for 2013 reached $305.6 billion, the industry’s highest-ever annual total and an increase of 4.8% from the 2012 totalRead More

Competition in the defense industry will continue to become more global and intense. Facts and figures of military strategy show the defense sector has more players than future demand can profitably support. Governments and defense agencies in 2013 — from the US to China to the eurozone — had to justify defense spending against aRead More

The global rail industry market for connectors is expected to yield an 8.0% CAGR through 2018, growing to an annual volume of $828.8 million. Europe, the largest component of the global rail industry market segment, with 48.8% of the total market, is repositioning itself for consistent expansion into its 2020 plan and beyond. A freeRead More