November 2014 Electronics Industry Digest

Worldwide smart meter shipments are expected to grow from 94 million annually in 2014 to 116 million in 2023, so Navigant Research. In North America, after 5 years of numerous smart meter deployments, the frenzy of new smart meter deployments is over. The focus of the smart electric meter market is now shifting to projects in various countries in Europe and Asia Pacific. Now, much of the focus is on Europe, particularly in Great Britain and France, where large projects that will account for some 93 million new meters by the end of 2020 are in the works. Even larger are the planned rollouts in Asia Pacific. Chinese utilities continue to install millions of smart meters as part of a five-year plan that will result in a total of 300 million smart meters installed by 2015. Major projects in Japan are expected to account for some 80 million smart meters, while anticipated deployments in India should reach 150 million meters between 2017 and 2027.

 

Semiconductors

European sales of semiconductors in July amounted to $ 3.273 billion; an increase of14.9 percent compared to July 2013, so the WSTS. The high Year-on-Year growth in Europe, well above the worldwide average, confirms the continued growth of the European semiconductor market.

Exar announced the appointment of Ali Sahin as vice president of sales for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Mr. Sahin is based in Munich, Germany and reports to Steve Bakos, senior vice president of sales. His responsibilities include management of Exar’s European sales and field applications staff, a wide network of sales representatives, and authorized distributors.

UK-based Anvil Semiconductors, which was established in August 2010 to develop silicon carbide power devices, has secured a production source for its proprietary 3C-SiC on silicon epi wafers with commercial SiC wafer and epitaxy supplier Norstel. Anvil’s novel process for the growth of device quality 3C-SiC epilayers on silicon wafers has been successfully transferred onto production reactors at Norstel’s facilities in Norrkoping, Sweden. Layers grown using Anvil’s patented stress control techniques permit both 650V and 1200V devices to be realised. Anvil is currently developing vertical SBDs and MOSFETs on its 3C-SiC on silicon wafers for supply and license to the multi-billion dollar power electronics market. Norstel is a Swedish manufacturer of conductive and semi-insulating silicon carbide wafers and single-crystal epitaxial layers deposited by CVD epitaxy.

 

Passive Components

Amphenol, a supplier of electrical, electronic and fibre-optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas and coaxial and high-speed specialty cable, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Casco Automotive Group for approximately $ 450 M.

FCI Electronics and Samtec, two suppliers of high-speed connectors and interconnect systems, announced the signing of a second- source agreement under which Samtec is licensed to manufacture, market and sell FCI’s next-generation ExaMAX high-speed connector product portfolio.

TE Connectivity, a world leader in connectivity, has completed the acquisition of American Sensor Technologies (AST), a manufacturer of pressure and position sensing solutions with 2013 revenues of approximately $ 20 M.

 

Other Components

Yamaha Motor has concluded a contract to partially transfer assets related to the surface mounter business owned by Hitachi. Yamaha Motor has been developing its surface mounter business with a focus on the multifunctional mounter market. The transfer of assets from Hitachi will accelerate Yamaha Motor’s business strategy, strengthening its technical foundations in the high-speed mounter market and create more opportunities for expanding its customer base, and ultimately expand its surface mounter business.

Averna, a Canadian developer of test solutions and services for communications and electronics device makers, has acquired US-based Cal-Bay Systems, a privately-owned provider of test systems, test and measurement solutions, automated testing and vibration monitoring tools.

 

Distribution

Arrow Electronics has signed a distribution agreement with NimbeLink, a provider of embedded cellular modems and developer of cellular-enabled gateway systems. Arrow Electronics also announced that it has been named 2013 Europe passive distributor of the year by Vishay.

Richardson RFPD, an Arrow Electronics company, will globally distribute products from Maxtena, a producer of rugged and compact helix antennas, microstrip antennas and combo antennas for wireless solutions ranging from smart metering to 4G LTE. Richardson RFPD has also completed an agreement with Radius Power to distribute its EMI power line filters.

Mouser Electronics has signed a global distribution agreement with Broadcom. As Broadcom’s first eCommerce distributor, Mouser Electronics will offer same-day shipping on a variety of Broadcom mass-market products, including the Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) platform. Mouser Electronics has entered into a global distribution agreement with Cosel, a Japanese power supply manufacturer, with EAO, a Swiss supplier of Human Machine Interface (HMI) Components and Systems, switches and keypads and with GaN Systems to distribute their range of Gallium Nitride high power transistors. Mouser has also expanded its agreement with Adlink Technology to distribute the Taiwanese embedded computing products across Europe. Mouser Electronics also announced the introduction of their updated Internet of Things (IoT) Applications site.

 

About the Author

Aubrey Dunford is the change specialist of Europartners. His major area of interest lies in helping companies face up to essential change, particularly in managing the interface between sales/marketing and manufacturing. He also runs DEO Consulting Ltd. as a UK management consultancy which gives him exposure to industries outside the electronics industry.

 

This article originally appeared in the Bodo’s Power Systems magazine.