Traditionally employed in heavy industrial applications, robots are moving into other industries. In the medical field, they are used for surgery, therapy, diagnostics, and much more.   Robots for specialized medical applications such as surgery bring together robotics and biology, and we’re seeing an increase in the number of robots specifically designed and developed for thisRead More

Bishop & Associates examined 10 years of connector industry balance sheets, which revealed consistent performance that rewarded investors.   The connector industry grew to almost $53 billion in 2014. It is an industry with a good balance sheet and not a lot of long-term debt. Let’s take a look at some of the stats that supportRead More

While secondary sourcing can be a viable option to mitigate supply chain interruptions, many connectors for today’s automobiles are so specialized that finding a second source can mean a whole new set of challenges. The “supply chain” is the process by which a company creates and distributes its products and services to the end users. The execution begins whenRead More

As electronic content in cars continued to outpace growth in unit volume, the automotive cable assembly market was up 7.2% in 2014.   Bishop tracks 12 companies in the automotive market sector. This market had six consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth before 4Q14, as measured by these 12 companies’ revenues. In 2013, these companies grewRead More

Bishop & Associates examined the revenues of 11 companies and found the telecom/datacom cable assembly market 2014 sales racked up growth.   Bishop tracks 11 companies in the telecom/datacom market sector. This market has shown four quarters of year-over-year growth, as measured by these 11 companies’ revenues. In 2013, these companies grew 0.1% year overRead More

For the new electric and hybrid vehicles, powertrain controls and connectors require the complete functionality of a conventional vehicle, plus the components required to drive the electric motor and charge the Lithium-ion battery pack.  Worldwide production of electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) reached two million units in 2014, nearly doubling since 2011 andRead More

In December, the semiconductor market grew to a record $336 billion (up +10.0% YOY), while connector growth strengthened as well. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported excellent growth in December 2014. December sales were a record $29.1 billion, up +9.3% from December 2013 and down -2.2% sequentially from November. 2014 semiconductor sales were up +10.0%Read More

Wi-Fi has changed the connector and cabling content in wireless local area networks. Here’s how different types of Wi-Fi are affecting, and sometimes displacing, connectivity products in LANs.   Wi-Fi – what would we do without it? It’s the first thing any Generation Y or Z person looks for when they walk into a new restaurant,Read More

Wireless demand impacts I/O connector demand in ways that are hard to count.   Wireless connectivity continues to grow rapidly. From a connector usage standpoint, wireless is a displacement technology; that is, devices that use wireless connection technologies do not necessarily also include a physical connector to perform the same function redundantly. So, if theRead More

The new iNEMI-MIT consortium on silicon photonics demonstrates that optical computing is serious business. Fiber optics have had a long, uphill battle in our industry, with millions invested and dot-com busts, but now FO appears in launchpad mode in the near future. The newly formed Photonic Systems Manufacturing Consortium (PSMC) is funded through The National InstituteRead More

The connector industry grew in 2014, and that was a result of both evolving product lines and cutting-edge technology. Here, Bob Hult looks back at the year’s trends and products in the annual 2014 Connector Technology Review. Shrinking the size of electronic devices has always been a given in the world of electronic equipment. TheRead More

In this issue, Bishop & Associates reports on the facts and figures of the connector industry’s largest market sector – automotive. Automotive is the largest market sector for connectors, with 2013 world sales of $10,943 million, or 22.3% of world connector demand. The following table identifies the size of the automotive market by geographic region andRead More