Success for The InnoElectro Exhibition and Conference
The InnoElectro Exhibition and Conference, held from 23rd to 25th April 2024, has reported that it doubled in size from last year's show, with a 42% increase in attendance. Hosted in Budapest, the event attracted 2,497 professionals from 29 countries, representing over 600 companies from the electronics industry. The exhibition featured 78 exhibitors and included 54 presentations and three-panel discussions.
Adding to the success, the IOT LIVE SHOW and the Solution Provider Competition featured 21 additional exhibitors. The exhibition celebrated the anniversaries of Danutek (20 years) and Microsolder (30 years).
This year, the prestigious InnoElectro Grand Prize was awarded to InterElectronic Hungary Ltd. for their Europlacer ATOM ii-A2 multifunctional component placement machine. Phoenix Contact and Endich Bauelemente also received accolades for their innovative solutions.
It's fantastic to see the growth and success of The InnoElectro Exhibition and Conference. With the next event set for the 8th to 10th of April 2025, we look forward to seeing how the show continues to evolve and support the electronics industry in Hungary.
IOT Insider Hirers New Editor
IOT Insider has welcomed a new Editor to the team, Caitlin Gittins.
With three years of experience within the B2B sector, Caitlin's experience spans several sectors, including agriculture, food production and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Caitlin is passionate about both writing and reading, and her technological interests include the intersection of technology with our daily surroundings and its integration into larger industrial and infrastructural contexts. She is particularly interested in the potential ramifications of new technological advances, including the deployment of 5G networks.
It's always great to see editorial teams expanding, and we wish Caitlin the best of luck in her new role.
For more information about Caitlin, please click here.
Future Horizons: May Semiconductor Update
We are delighted to share May's semiconductor update from Future Horizons. Find out more about the current outlook of the market below:
Executive Overview
March’s total IC sales were up 22.1 percent in value vs. the same period last year, with total Discretes down 9.9 percent and total Opto down 8.9 percent. The overall year-on-year total Semiconductor market grew 15.7 percent.
By comparison, the same datapoints for February were plus 14.3 percent for total Semiconductors, plus 23.1 percent for total ICs, minus 22.3 percent for total Discretes, minus 12.7 percent for total Opto.
The overall semiconductor year-on-year growth in value, at 15.7 percent, was the fifth consecutive month of double-digit growth since the market turned positive in September 2023.
These double-digit growth numbers clearly look like a strong market recovery but, as can be seen for the relevant charts later on, with the IC unit demand, Analog, Discrete and Opto sectors still stubbornly weak, this apparent ‘market recovery’ is predicated by a strong rebound in IC ASP monthly annualised growth.
Given the long-term average ASP growth is zero, our concern is this ASP rebound is purely a counter reaction to the previous year’s period of harsh ASP decline. There is a real danger this will evaporate during 2H-2024 as fast as it suddenly appeared.
Memory and AI processors aside, demand in the other IC sectors, along with Analog, Discretes and Opto, remains sluggishly weak. As we have cautioned many times before in this Report, you cannot call a real market recovery without IC units and Discretes growth.
Market Outlook
As commented on in last month’s column, our 3 percent growth assumption for Q1-2024 was looking optimistic. With the first quarter data now in, our fears were confirmed … the first quarter crashed, wiping US$13 billion off the quarter, which, in turn, reduced our full year forecast by US$50 billion.
Low unit sales, driven by ‘take of pay’ long-term price agreements (LTAs) from the Covid-boom era, are exacerbating industry attempts to rein back excess inventory.
Just like the emperor’s new clothes, the supposed 2024 Super-Cycle has evaporated in a puff of smoke. It always was a delusion, Q1 removed all doubt.
Future Horizons hosted their spring Forecast Webinar at the beginning of May. For the webinar highlights, click here and watch the full webinar by clicking here.
For any further details, please reach out to the Future Horizons team.
Datateam Business Media Acquires Two New Publications
Datateam Business Media has acquired the School Building and MMC publications following the retirement of Lyn O'Donnell at Waverly Publications.
Datateam is no stranger to acquisitions, having continually grown its portfolio over the last decade, adding publications such as Electronics World to the fold.
Although both School Building and MMC are now part of Datateam, Building Specifier, the online publication, will continue to be published by Waverly Publications.
The sale of these publications continues to show Datateam's commitment to growth, and the building of a diverse portfolio that covers several sectors. We look forward to seeing the direction Datateam will take the publications in the near future.
Procurement Pro: A Great Success From Electronic Specifier
In February, Electronic Specifier launched its new magazine, Procurement Pro, the newest 'go-to' guide for those within the world of procurement in the electronic components market.
The first edition of the publication covered a wide variety of topics, including semiconductor analysis and commentary from the Chairman of the Electronic Components Supply Network (ecsn).
Following the launch, the print version of Procurement Pro made its debut at two of the biggest events within the industry, the Applied Power Electronics Conference 2024 (APEC 2024), hosted in February at Long Beach, California, and embedded world 2024, hosted earlier this month in Nuremberg, Germany. But that's not all, coming summer 2024, Procurement Pro will also be launching as a website. The website will offer deeper discussions of topics covered within the magazine and provide industry insights.
With the publication currently distributing quarterly, the next issue will be ready to read this May. Those attending The Electronic Distributor Show (EDS) at the Mirage, in Las Vegas from 21st to 24th May 2024, will be able to meet the Procurement Pro team and receive their own copy of the magazine.
Congrats to the team at Procurement Pro!
Success for embedded world 2024
It has been two weeks since embedded world and the results are in! The exhibition and conference were another great success, with a record attendance of 32,000 visitors from more than 80 countries and over 1,100 exhibitors from over 50 countries.
The two parallel conferences which consisted of a total of 81 sessions and 17 classes, attracted 1,871 participants and featured speakers from 45 countries.
"The past three days were simply great," commented Executive Director Benedikt Weyerer on Thursday evening at the close of embedded world 2024. "We were able to observe thousands of happy faces and in-depth conversations – both on the stands as well as in the packed halls and aisles."
The Napier team contributed to these staggering numbers, with five members of our team in attendance. We met with over 30 different editors across 50 meetings and had the chance to meet many of our European-based clients face-to-face.
There's no denying that embedded world is a staple of our industry, and has long been regarded as the ‘go-to’ place to gain insight into embedded system technologies. It was great to see the event busy and in full force, and we look forward to next year's show.
embedded world 2025 has been confirmed and will take place from March 11th - 13th 2025.
It's Nearly Time For Focus On PCB 2024!
The third edition of 'Focus on PCBs - From Design to Assembly' is taking place on May 15th -16th 2024. The event is the only European B2B trade fair focused on the world of printed circuits.
The show will be taking place at the Fiera di Vicenza in Italy, and expects attendees from all over the world with 116 companies confirmed.
Two days of the conference will offer 10 technical presentations from various leading companies within the printed circuit industry. Talks will look at PCB Design and Assembly and will provide insights into the processes faced by electronic designers. The final day of the conference will spotlight Artificial Intelligence, investigating its impact on the electronics industry. There will also be 26 specialist forum meetings, which are technical workshops dedicated to relevant issues like sustainability and reshoring.
One unique feature of Focus on PCBs, is the recruiting service, Focus on Career. Companies attending PCB will be able to share details of the professionals they are looking for, with job offers being published at the fair and online.
Focus on PCBs is not to be missed, and we look forward to hearing about the outcome of the event!
Future Horizons: April Semiconductor Update
We're happy to share this month's extract of Future Horizons April report on the semiconductor market. Continue reading to learn more about the market's current outlook.
Executive Overview
2019, pre-Covid, saw the IC sector shrink, whilst Opto boomed and Discretes remained flat, reversing positions in the first half of 2020, with Opto in decline whilst IC growth recovered, with all sectors back in step by the second half of 2020.
The reverse situation seems to be happening right now, with ICs in full growth mode, whilst Discretes and Opto are in decline. We believe this trend will run its course over the coming months with all sectors back in step by the second half of this year … unfortunately all being more likely in decline..
Market Update
At our January Industry Update webinar, we presented our official forecast for 2024, namely a 16 percent growth in value, with the Bull and Bear scenarios being plus 20 and plus 12 percent respectively.
Our concern at that time was that this growth rate was inflated by ASPs that were being measured against 2023’s severely collapsed values, and as such the ‘recovery’ was a statistical quirk of the math and not genuine market growth.
Regular readers of our reports will know we have constantly counselled of this danger and of our belief that, without a recovery in unit sales, this dollar ‘growth’ will one day evaporate in a puff of smoke. It looks like that day is now coming into sight.
Given the worsening IC unit shipment situation, with no end yet in sight to this route, it is looking increasingly likely that our forecast concerns were valid.
Other than Memory, which is now in a genuine recovery phase, sadly all the other IC product segments, along with Discretes and Opto, are not doing as well, with the monthly annualized growth rates all on a downward trend.
We commented last month that our 3 percent growth assumption for Q1-2024 was starting to look optimistic. With the first two months’ data now in, our fears are confirmed … Q1 will now shrink.
Future Horizons will be hosting a spring update webinar on May 7th 2024, which will present an updated forecast for 2024. For more information and to review previous webinars, click here.
For any further details, please reach out to the Future Horizons team.
Electronique Composants Instrumentation Announces New Editor-in-Chief
ECINews's current Editor-in-Chief, Alain Dieul, has announced that he will be stepping down from the role, and will be passing the torch to Nicolas Feste, who has several years of experience working within the electronics sector as an engineer. Alain will continue to work alongside Nicolas, supporting him whilst he takes charge of his new post as Editor-in-Chief.
We look forward to liaising with Nicolas and wish both him and Alain the best of luck.
March Semiconductor Market Update from Future Horizons
As an agency that works with some of the leading companies within the technology industry, it is important that we stay up-to-date on the industry, including trends and the outlook of technology markets. So, we were excited to have the opportunity to share an extract of Future Horizons March report on the semiconductor market:
Executive Overview
IC ASPs continued to drive the recovery, up 34.7 percent vs. January 2023. They were also up 7.6 percent vs. December 2023, which was untypical for the first month of the quarter.
At the same time, IC unit sales fell 13.9 percent vs. December 2023, again unusual for the first month of the quarter, and were also down 10.4 percent vs. January 2023.
With IC unit demand still in decline, the current furor over the supposed chip market ‘recovery’ needs to be treated with extreme caution bordering on the irrational.
Market Update
January saw IC ASPs rebound from December’s dramatic downward correction, continuing their now eight-month long recovery climb, up 7.6 percent vs. December 2023.
At the same time, IC unit shipments were 27.1 percent lower than the May 2022 8.2 billion maxed-out capacity peak and 16.4 percent lower than the overall long-term trend line, a marked deterioration over last month’s 3.9 percent number.
This is the first time since records began that ASPs have led a market recovery. In the normal course of events, unit growth recovers first, with ASPs following ‘one-year later’. There is no obvious underlying reason for this behaviour, quite the opposite, it flies in the face of fundamental economic supply and demand pricing theory.
Either it will prove to be a curious quirk of statistics or a fundamental, but as yet undetermined, radical shift in market behaviour. Our bet is firmly on the former not the latter, especially given the overall global economic uncertainty.
Hopes that the US Federal Reserve would start dropping interest rates towards the end of March were dashed when the most recent inflation data rose at its fastest pace in almost a year, signaling a still bumpy road ahead against a robust labour market, strong growth and a resilient American consumer background.
So far, central banks have managed to successfully walk the fine line between pushing up interest rates to bring down inflation but not to the point of triggering a recession. The chances of a soft landing for the global economy are still strong but the overall economic outlook remains decidedly weak.
As one of the most respected semiconductor industry analysts across the globe, Future Horizons report provides some excellent insight into what’s currently happening in the semiconductor market. To find out how to access the full report, please click here.
Future Horizons will be hosting a spring update webinar on May 7th 2024. For more information and to review previous webinars, click here.
For any further details, please reach out to the Future Horizons team.
WEKA Fachmedien Official Media Partner of embedded world
WEKA Fachmedien has announced that they are once again the official media partner of embedded world.
Taking place from April 9th-11th in Nuremberg Germany, the show will host a range of experts, professionals, and companies from the embedded industry.
As media partner, WEKA Fachmedien will provide daily analysis and coverage, publishing the official daily embedded world newspaper throughout the event.
The media house will also host the 17th Media Summit, taking place on April 9th, at 2 pm in room Seoul, NCC East. The speakers, Prof. Matthias Spörrle and Matthäus Hose, will undertake a lecture, presenting their analysis of our accelerated age.
The 22nd edition of the embedded world Conference will take place throughout the show. This features 243 presentations, 17 classes and two keynotes covering all aspects of the development and application of embedded systems.
On the second and third day of the show, the Electronics Displays Conference will take place. Designed for experts and luminaries within the display industry, the programme will consist of eight keynotes that will highlight current industry trends.
As always, embedded world is not a show to be missed, and we're looking forward to attending the event in April to hear the latest insights and trends from the industry.
EEPower Introduces First EEPower Day
This May, EETech will run its first-ever annual EEPower Day, a conference designed for power engineers. Taking place on May 2nd, EEPower Day is a one-day virtual conference, with unique content being published throughout the week of the event.
Coverage will feature innovative news updates, and educational and technical content aligning with EEPower's theme: Powering the Energy Transition.
With over 11,000 planned attendees, the event will offer a unique opportunity for companies to increase awareness via virtual booths, and generate leads from live webinar sessions.
Here at Napier, we love to see new events take place within the industry. With the conference using a similar format to Industry Tech Days, we are sure this will be a successful and valuable event for the industry.
For more information on the event and how you can get involved, please get in touch.
Alfred Vollmer: Editor in Chief and Freelancer for Bodo's Power System
Alfred Vollmer, a well-known and respected journalist within the industry, has announced his new role as Editor-in-Chief at Bodo's Power Systems.
Alfred will be responsible for all main editorial elements, supported closely by Bodo, as well as Holger Moscheik who will focus on all other activities outside the pure editorial responsibilities.
Alfred's current introductory editorial is only available to read on Bodo's Power until the end of February, which will then be followed by his next editorial on the 1st March.
In addition to his new position, from the 1st of March, Alfred will also be available for new freelance work following a six-month break.
We wish Alfred all the best in his new role!
PowerUP 2024: Aspencore and Tecno's New Partnership
AspenCore and Tecno, have announced their partnership as organisers for the PowerUP and Fortronic Conference and Exhibition, which will take place this September in Milan.
As a two-day event, the conference will take place on September 18th and 19th 2024 at the NH Milano Congress Centre. Those who cannot attend in person will have the opportunity to experience the two-day conference and exhibition virtually on October 9th and 10th 2024.
Aiming for an immersive experience, the conference will explore pivotal themes within the industry. This will include topics such as power semiconductors, power management, sensors, converters, and tools for test and measurement.
The conference will provide keynote sessions by global industry leaders, panel discussions and technical presentations on emerging tools and measurement technology, and the opportunity to delve into discussions like reducing carbon footprints through innovative materials. Visitors will also have the opportunity to network with peers and industry professionals from across the globe.
Each day will follow a key theme with day one focusing on ' Power Electronics design - developments, applications and the future' and day two covering 'Power conversion for energy transition.'
“We are proud to start this collaboration, which brings an international scope to Fortronic,” said Elena Baronchelli, general manager of Tecno. “We are confident that this is just the first step toward a successful partnership with AspenCore.”
Vice president and publisher of AspenCore, Cyrus Krohn, added “We are excited about our further expansion into Europe through our partnership with Tecno. We’re looking forward to using the power of our combined networks to bring about new ideas and long-lasting value to the market.”
It is great to see AspenCore and Tecno working together to build an event that will educate and inform the industry. We're looking forward to seeing the fantastic insights that will be revealed at the show, and hearing what we are sure will be great feedback from the industry.
For comprehensive logistical details and agenda information, visit powerup.fortronic.it and www.powerup-expo.com.
Electronic Specifier: Introducing Procurement Pro
Electronic Specifier has officially launched the first issue of Procurement Pro. The new magazine will highlight the elaborate and fast-paced reality of the procurement industry.
Launched as a subsidiary of Electronic Specifier, Procurement Pro aims to be one of the ‘go-to’ guides for industry professionals.
The electronics component market faces many challenges, including evolving technological requirements, geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and many more. These all require a new approach from procurement specialists and the new publication offers solutions to these challenges through content which communicates expert insights, analysis and leadership perspectives. The publication covers a range of topics from global market trends and procurement technology innovations to supply chain management best practices.
Procurement pro will be issued on a quarterly basis and will include future topics like Environmental Sustainability, Regulation, Supply Chain Management, Risk Management and Obsolete Parts.
Here at Napier, we were excited to see the first-ever Procurement Pro launched and look forward to seeing the future success of the publication unfold.
ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS Announces New Editorial Trainee
ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS has welcomed a new trainee to their editorial team. Michael Richter took up his trainee role at the publication this month after graduating with a Communications Engineering degree. Michael was previously a simulation engineer at the Bose Group.
In his new role at ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS, Michael will be focusing on the editorial topics of power electronics and drive technology.
Congratulations to Michael on his new role!
Power Systems Design Celebrates 20 Years
Congratulations to Power Systems Design (PSD) which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
As one of the leading independent publishers and content developers for the global power electronics community, PSD has built a global community of over 150,000 engineers in power, providing invaluable resources and knowledge for the past two decades.
Congratulations to PSD, we can’t wait to see what you do in the next 20 years!
Elektor Acquires European Business Press
Elektor International Media BV (Elektor) has announced the acquisition of the European Business Press (EBP), a leading publisher in the B2B electronics sector for Europe. Titles such as eeNews Europe and ECI Electronique will now sit under the Elektor media house.
Both EBP and Elektor will continue to work individually with their current teams, promising to maintain business continuity alongside growth and collaboration. With offices in Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands, the expansion of the organisation will be led by Managing Director of Elektor, Erik Jansen.
The merge will also see the accession of Jansen to the Publisher of eeNews Europe. He will be taking over from Andre Rousselot following his retirement after 42 years in publishing. Andre will assist as a consultant throughout 2024 to support a smooth transition.
Jansen commented: "We are excited to welcome EBP into the Elektor family. This acquisition aligns perfectly with our strategy to broaden our reach in the B2B electronics publishing market."
EBP's existing global sales organization will remain in place, and the acquisition will focus on maximising mutual strengths, focusing on opportunities such as traffic and database growth.
The acquisition reinforces Elektor's strategy to gradually expand its influence and expertise in the global electronics publishing sector. It's clear to see that this will be a positive move for the industry, with the combination of two fantastic editorial teams. We look forward to seeing the development of EBP under Elektor, and the approach they take together moving into the future.
For more information about Elektor and EBP, click here.
Christmas Charity Donations From Napier
For the last few Christmases, Napier has made charitable donations rather than sending client gifts. From a select three, we invite our clients to vote for their favourite charity, of which we then distribute our donations in proportion to the votes for each charity.
So we were delighted to once again make our charity donations for Christmas in 2023, donating 41.5% of our pot to Médecins Sans Frontières, 21% to St. Wilfred’s Hospice and 12.5% to WWF.
We’d like to thank all our clients who took the time to vote and contribute to Napier’s decision.
Flash Memory Summit Announces Rebrand
Flash Memory Summit (FMS) has rebranded to reflect the ever-evolving landscape of memory and storage technologies. Relaunching as FMS: the Future of Memory and Storage, the change marks a recognition that the memory and storage industry is rapidly changing beyond traditional flash memory.
Driven by emerging advancements like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and high-performance computing, the memory and storage industry is undergoing rapid changes which has fuelled FMS's decision to rebrand.
The rebrand will change several elements of the event, including the conference and exhibition, which will cover a broad spectrum of storage applications, embracing not only flash memory but also emerging memory technologies that play a crucial role in the storage ecosystem.
Attendees can also expect to see enhanced networking opportunities and to view the latest products and solutions in memory and storage, with insights into future trends and technological breakthroughs.
CEO Kat Pate, said: “We are pleased to make it official by rebranding the event. We know this change will bring continued growth for FMS, and we look forward to welcoming new companies.”
The FMS: the Future of Memory and Storage event is due to take place on August 6-8th 2024.
We look forward to seeing the event take place under the new rebranding, and the great feedback we are sure it will receive from the industry.
Budapest Olympic Centre to Host InnoElectro 2024
This year, the publisher of ELEKTRONET will organise InnoElectro 2024 alongside the National Electronics Society of Hungary. The event will take place at the Olympic Centre in Budapest, on the 23rd-25th April 2024.
InnoElectro provides a platform for professionals involved in creating and manufacturing electronics-based solutions, from design houses to manufacturers and distributors, to discuss their knowledge, network and browse new partnership opportunities.
The event will host the IoT Live Show this year, as well as run the SMTA conference as part of the three-day event.
For the second consecutive year, the event will award the InnoElectro Grand Prize in recognition of the best products and electronic solutions presented at the show. Exhibitors and sponsors of the event can put forward their nominations.
We look forward to hearing about InnoElectro this year and the great insights from the industry.
Next Mobility and ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS Announce New Editor
Next Mobility and ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS has welcomed Stefanie Eckardt as its new Editor.
Stefanie is no stranger to the industry, and is an extremely experienced editor in the Automotive sector, having previously been Editor-in-Chief at Hanser Automotive for three years. Before this, she was also at WEKA for nine years, working on the Elektronik Automotive publication.
Congratulations to Stefanie on her new role!
New Semiconductor Publication To Launch Q1 2024
A new semiconductor magazine has been announced for 2024, titled Global Fabs. Due to launch in Q1 of this year, Global Fabs will be a new global semiconductor manufacturing website and digi-magazine.
The new publication will act as a dedicated source for information on semiconductor fabrication, providing the latest news, market developments, as well as technology and policy updates in the European Union, the USA and worldwide.
Here at Napier, we always love to see the development of a new publication available to the industry. With it focused on the semiconductor sector specifically, the publication is sure to cover some interesting stories. We look forward to the launch and reading the first copy very soon.
The Engineering Network Welcomes Industry Expert Sidney Hamilton-Williams
Industry sales expert, Sidney Hamilton-Williams, has joined the team at The Engineering Network (TEN) as Portfolio and Events Manager. Her new role will cover TEN's FoodManufacturing.Live specialist event, and its associated website FoodManufacturing.net.
With Sidney having previously worked at Western Business Publishing, TEN's Managing Director Luke Webster commented that Sidney "brings with her talents and skills that have been well recognised across the industrial publishing and events sector for many years, and is already acquainted with many of the industry leaders selling into the UK food manufacturing sector."
Congratulations to Sidney on joining the TEN team! We wish you all the best in your new role and look forward to working with you.
Forbes B2B Marketing Group Named Best New Group
At Napier, it's no secret that we are passionate about learning and sharing knowledge, especially within the B2B marketing landscape. We are always looking for different ways to contribute to communities, as we see the immense value these communities bring by members supporting each other in the sharing and building of knowledge across multiple B2B sectors.
This is why we were delighted to learn that the Forbes B2B marketing group has received the 2023 Q3 and Q4 Member Leader Award. Led by Napier's very own Managing Director, Mike has grown the community, with a focus on sharing his knowledge about the B2B marketing landscape and encouraging members to participate.
Congratulations to Mike and all those in the group, and good luck for the next round of the Member Leader Awards!