Vodafone NZ will trial its narrowband IoT network with business customers in late 2017 ahead of a full network rollout across New Zealand in early 2018.
Vodafone NZ has announced that it will be deploying its narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network early next year across New Zealand.
Vodafone NZ had initially tested NB-IoT networking in September last year in partnership with Nokia, and will next trial the technology with several business customers later in 2017 ahead of a full network rollout in early 2018.
This year’s business customer trial will involve software being deployed on several cell sites, as well as the use of Vodafone’s networking testing facilities.
According to Vodafone NZ technology director Tony Baird, NB-IoT, with its dedicated bandwidth and licensed spectrum, is the “premium” solution for connecting the tens of millions of IoT devices expected in the next few years.
“[NB-IoT] is supported by over 40 of the world’s largest mobile operators, plus many more suppliers and innovators that serve the majority of the global IoT market,” Baird said.
ZDNet revealed in May that Vodafone would be launching live NB-IoT networks in New Zealand, Australia, and Germany towards the end of 2017, following the launch of its NB-IoT network across six cities in Spain in January.
The networks in New Zealand and Germany will be nationwide, while Australia’s will be rolled out in a state-by-state process beginning in Victoria where it has been running NB-IoT trials with Huawei for the past year, Vodafone told ZDNet.
Vodafone and Huawei completed a successful trial of NB-IoT technology across central and suburban Melbourne a year ago, attaining greater depth and distance — to the tune of penetrating through three double-brick walls in depth, and up to 30km in distance — in coverage using NB-IoT in comparison to 2G, 3G, and 4G.
Vodafone IoT global head of sales Tony Guerion told ZDNet in May that multiple customers are trialling their products on Vodafone’s Spanish NB-IoT networks, with Vodafone bringing the knowledge gained from these trials to businesses worldwide.
The use of its NB-IoT labs — such as those in Düsseldorf in Germany and Newbury in the United Kingdom — are also driving interest, Vodafone said, with companies able to experience hands-on time with prototype devices.
Vodafone Group is working with Huawei, Nokia, and Ericsson globally on NB-IoT.
The carrier is also expanding across rural New Zealand thanks to its NZ$10 million acquisition of Farmside, the rural broadband and satellite arm of small carrier TeamTalk.
As a Vodafone NZ mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), Farmside also offers rural broadband services and is one of the largest resellers of the New Zealand government’s Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI).
It uses satellite, ADSL, and wireless technology to provide internet connectivity in regional areas, and has a contact centre in Timaru with over 70 staff members.
Vodafone NZ is also using the second round of the RBI and the government’s recently announced mobile blackspots program to provide connectivity across the country.
“Rural New Zealand is a key driver of our country’s economic growth and productivity, and for these sectors to remain competitive, they need fast broadband and mobile coverage — not just in offices, but on farms, in schools, and on the roads,” Vodafone NZ CEO Russell Stanners said in April.
Last week, Vodafone NZ and Sky Network Television pulled the pin on a proposed merger of the two businesses.
Original article
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
We saw that head-for-the-hills effect in full action late week before last (June 15, 2017) when Finisar reported numbers that, at face value (based on the earnings press release,) were a take-down on current guidance going into the earnings report. Shares dropped about 4 to 5% off the headline print and then ended the next day higher by around 7 to 8%, costing the said head-for-the-hills crowd a cool 10% overnight. Incidentally, if one had taken advantage of the post-earnings print knee-jerk swoon on June 15, he or she would be up a nice 15% in slightly more than a week.
Not too shabby, huh?
The issue is the fact that most investors in the optical component complex are not aware or get caught up in the “China slowdown” talk mostly prompted and pushed by the financial media and by the darksiders. What they will rarely mention is the fact that a slowdown in China means going from 7% plus GDP growth to 6.5% GDP growth which is still mammoth growth given the size of the Chinese economy.
Most importantly, the optical component complex is a lot more than just a China growth story. In addition, almost every single company that deals with China in the optical component sector has stated emphatically that they see growth in that part of the world resuming in the second half off this year.
Guess what?
The second half of this year is upon us despite the sweaty palmed hand-wringing and noisy shouting from the darksiders about optical sector this and optical sector that.
Jay Somaney
CONTRIBUTOR
Artesyn has added three 50V DC/DC converter modules to it portfolio in a move to support what it sees as the rapidly growing application of GaN and high voltage LDMOS technology to provide increased power density and higher efficiency.
The AVE450, AVE500 and ADH700 modules are rated at 450W, 500W and 700W respectively. Each features a high power density open frame design in a telecom industry-standard half-brick format, with an optional aluminum baseplate for thermal performance.
According to the company, the AVE450 series offers a typical efficiency greater than 95% and can deliver up to 10A. Meanwhile, the ADH700 and AVE500 series have a typical efficiency in excess of 94.8% and deliver up to 14A.
The modules offer an output voltage trim range from 25V to 57V, with features such as remote control, low ripple and noise; input under voltage lockout, output over current protection, output over voltage protection, and over temperature protection.
All models can operate between -40 and 85°C and operate at full power at baseplate temperatures of up to 100°C.
Author
Graham Pitcher
From newelectronics
17 customized products designed to resolve common C-TPAT and other major security challenges
DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL Group, announced the launch of its Americas Supply Chain Security Consultancy service. Led by former customs and law enforcement professionals and with a global team of more than 250 security personnel, DHL Global Forwarding offers a robust portfolio of services to companies interested in becoming Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) members or simply achieving a more secure supply chain in general.
“DHL Global Forwarding has always provided its customers input and suggestions on supply chain security program requirements, but we have formalized this program to offer a service few freight forwarders are offering in the market,” said Richard Kolbusz, head of Security and Operational Resilience, DHL Global Forwarding, Americas. “Our service is led by a team of former customs and law enforcement officials trained in the methods of criminal exploitation of the supply chain and a deep knowledge of global trade.”
In an interview with SCMR, Kolbusz said that the plan was conceptualized several years ago but only recently provided as an official “fee-based” offering to customers.
“We recognized that as terrorism has expanded globally, and more countries adopt supply chain security programs, many more customers are recognizing the business benefits of Supply Chain Security Program membership,” he said.
As a consequence, they felt that there is a definite need to assist shippers to obtain these benefits while protecting their assets.
“As a leader in global logistics, DHL Global Forwarding is uniquely positioned to provide this valued service to our customers,” he added.
The service offers 10 Training Modules, including C-TPAT 101, C-TPAT Best Practice Training, Policy & Procedures Training, Developing a Supply Chain Risk Assessment, Security Training & Awareness Program, Security Breaches & Internal Conspiracies, among others.
Each module can be tailored to the company or vendor’s current supply chain security needs. Non-sector specific, the modules include on-site training, interactive sessions and best practices development which can be tailored for any industry. These can be augmented by specific policy and procedure development workshops enabling customer compliance with major supply chain security programs.
In addition to the 10 modules, DHL Global Forwarding offers security compliance questionnaire assistance to extend security awareness into every element of a company’s international supply chain. On-site audit service is also offered to validate all supply chain security program criteria.
Furthermore, the consultancy offers global supply chain risk assessment development as a holistic evaluation of the applicable criteria.
“At DHL Global Forwarding, compliance with C-TPAT and all other global security programs are essential to the way we do business,” said Kolbusz. “As a result, we have established an extensive curriculum, in multiple languages, designed to promote compliance with all World Customs Organization recognized supply chain security programs.”
DHL Global Forwarding enjoys corporate-wide membership in C-TPAT, AEO/OEA, PIP, BASC and other major supply chain security programs.
About the Author
Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor
Patrick Burnson is executive editor for Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review magazines and web sites. Patrick is a widely-published writer and editor who has spent most of his career covering international trade, global logistics, and supply chain management. He lives and works in San Francisco, providing readers with a Pacific Rim perspective on industry trends and forecasts. You can reach him directly at pburnson@peerlessmedia.com.
Change is something which the distribution sector has dealt with regularly over the last two decades or so – whether it was the move from catalogues to the web or the acquisition of companies stuck in a ‘no man’s land’ between the big broadliners and the smaller specialists.
But the pace of change seems to have accelerated recently and the acquisition by Avnet of Premier Farnell brings a new landscape. Before, broadliners such as Avnet and ‘high service’ companies, such as Premier Farnell, stood on either side of a divide. On one side, high service companies kept modest stocks of a wide range of products; on the other, broadliners held deeper stocks, but of a narrower portfolio.
While that divide was already narrowing – Digi-Key, for example, has been building its presence in the low volume manufacturing sector – Avnet’s acquisition of Farnell has brought the two sectors together and one company now has the ability to address the whole development process – from prototyping to production.
Steve Rawlins, CEO of Anglia, noted: “Industry consolidation is reducing choice. As a result, buyers are turning more to brokers and the grey market, despite the risks this brings. And consolidation is happening at the same time that movements in the currency markets mean customers are shopping round – and this is sharpening competition.”
John Macmichael, managing director of Solid State Supplies (SSS) – rooted solidly in the technical distribution sector – believes the internet has had the biggest effect.
“The internet has made the whole process of finding, and then specifying, components – whether franchised or non franchised – much easier. Not only engineers, but also procurement staff, can now access far more information on a product before they need to make contact with anyone else in their supply chain.
“The Internet has also exposed the market to the threat posed by counterfeiters,” he said. “As a result, distributors now have to be extra vigilant, only buying within franchise or forming well-educated, highly aware sourcing operations.”
But has wider access to knowledge come at a price? “There is a much greater need for deep rooted relationships to be established between distributors and the customers they serve,” Macmichael said.
Rawlins (pictured left) added: “Customers are demanding more value added services. While the industry is responding, companies are not, in general, charging for these additional services. Only strong businesses that are well structured will survive in this environment.”
How does SSS fit into the market? “We are squarely in the technical distribution sector,” according to Macmichael. “If a customer needs in-depth technical assistance, they know they can get it from us. The challenge for distributors,” he continued, “is that free of charge technical support is difficult to sustain if orders don’t follow.”
Macmichael believes changes in the way information is sourced are partly cultural. “There is a fundamental shift in customer expectations,” he noted. “Younger electronics engineers expect to find a much higher degree of support online than their predecessors would have.” And this means distributors have needed to change the profile of their application engineers. “Web based engineering platforms and communities mean distributors can no longer be reliant upon generalists. While this was adequate in the past, the current landscape dictates that generalists are simply not enough; distributors need to be able to add value through more detailed advice that spans the whole project and not just the initial phases. The onus is firmly on the distributor to provide this as part of their remit if they are to keep hold of customers’ business.” And, as he noted, that’s hard to do without orders.
How does SSS address this conundrum? “In many cases,” Macmichael noted, “activities which we have always undertaken are proving to be of even greater importance. For example, we host free seminars and workshops covering a broad spectrum of topics, allowing engineers from our customers to develop skills that will make them better prepared to deal with future design challenges.”
Rather than starting from first principles, a growing number of engineers are using reference designs or commercially available boards, then differentiating their product using software. Anglia is one of the UK’s leading independent authorised distributors of semiconductors and other electronic components, so does Rawlins see this happening with his customers?
“Absolutely,” he said. “The wireless market is a great example; most customers now ask for Bluetooth and GSM modules, rather than the discrete components to create their own designs – and we are seeing particular interest in Bluetooth Low Energy. Anglia has always believed strongly in giving customers what they want and need. While we can work with customers on chip level designs, we have also built strong relationships with module suppliers like Gemalto – which is where the real demand is.”
What does Macmichael (pictured right) see from the SSS perspective? “We definitely see customers being more attracted to the use of subsystems and modules.” Amongst the reasons for this, he suggested, is the lack of volume manufacturers in the UK and therefore a lack of R&D activities. “Engineering teams either lack the time or the diverse skill sets needed to design systems from the ground up.
“With their available resources being stretched and deadline pressures becoming more acute, it is more important than ever for companies like SSS to offer customers the hardware that will facilitate prototyping and reduce design cycles.”
Anglia stocks more than 800million components from more than 700,000 product lines. How are the changes in distribution affecting this stocking profile? “Lead times have moved out very recently,” Rawlins noted. “We believe in supporting our business with inventory and normally hold about six months’ worth. Right now, we are ordering nine months ahead to address lengthening lead times and to give our customers continuity of supply.”
He believes that OEMs serving the automotive market are ‘sucking up’ available component supplies, limiting availability for the industrial market. “At the same time, UK customers are winning significant export orders because Sterling is now at the right level. This is creating a ‘perfect storm’ in the supply chain as increasing demand meets limitations in supply.”
So what does the future hold for the distribution sector? Macmichael believes that, if the sector is to thrive, it will need to add new services. “This will start to blur the lines between the traditional role of a distributor and that of a design service provider. In essence, SSS has followed this path and customers can benefit from services like device programming, module configuration, firmware version control and mini reeling. And our Ginsbury division can take care of specialist activities, like touch screen integration, optical bonding and screen printing – offloading some of the tasks the customer’s engineering team would otherwise have to deal with.”
Rawlins thinks it’s all about customer relationships. “The relationship with the customer will always be important. While we have an extremely strong technical team, in many areas the need for design-in support has been overtaken by the trend for customers to source modules for parts of their design. Power supplies are a great example; more and more customers are buying from a specialist offering best in class efficiency and compliance with the increasingly complex regulations, rather than trying to ‘roll their own’,” he concluded.
Author
Graham Pitcher
From newelectronics
A year and a half ago, seventeen people jumped to their deaths from the roofs of the factories where Apple’s hottest products are made. There was some outrage in the press, but the general feeling, aside from grief, was powerlessness; and in some cases, an urge to justify our indifference.
It’s an eighteenth death that made the difference. Steve Jobs – Apple’s founder, cultural icon, and go-to subject for reporters discussing the world’s largest company – was replaced by Tim Cook, formerly head of the company’s awe-inspiring supply chain. Quite simply, it’s the most brilliantly effective one ever devised, and it’s the flint on Apple’s competitive edge.
When Cook assumed the most powerful and visible role in the corporate world, the media took note. It’s no coincidence that coverage of supply chain topics has steadily increased since Cook’s appointment, or that he had to face a veritable public relations blizzard after a particularly damning piece appeared in the paper of record. It’s hard to believe Apple would have been subjected to similar scrutiny under Jobs’ continued leadership.
Media trends work in a cascade effect, and it’s often the case that one big story can cause wide-ranging downstream effects. Apple is a cultural leader: the richest, most admired, most closely followed company on the planet. If the scrutiny yields change, it could have a ripple effect across industry that would contribute mightily to the causes of human rights and environmental protection – worldwide.
Apple makes its iPads in China. As a society, we’re long past the point of debating the merits or demerits of outsourcing. It’s here to stay. But how it’s done can be changed, and by the same actors who initiated the practice – big business.
The foundation of Apple’s business is its logistics – that’s why Cook got Jobs’ job. The fact is, in the 21st century, big business looks quite a lot like big logistics. Supply chain is the key to the whole enterprise.
Supply chain managers have known for some time that manufacturing works best when waste is minimized, when staff are equitably treated, and when all operations are sustainable to the global community. For logistics officers, externalities are simply variables that have yet to be internalized.
With labor violations pushing people off buildings and pollution contributing to natural disasters that can stop a heavyweight corporation in its tracks, environmental sustainability sounds a lot like mitigating risk. Those with the skills to manage a modernized supply chain are becoming the most prized talent of the business world – and the secret friends of good citizens everywhere.
It’s a new day, as it always is, and a new renaissance is coming in the way human beings get what they need and keep it safe. The fact is, to beat climate change, build a house for China and India, and get everybody back to work, we don’t need Da Vinci. We need to foresee. And that’s what supply chain managers do best.
Taken from The Coming Supply Chain Renaissance featured in Supplychaindigital.com
Flextronics USA disclosed Wednesday that it will move 500 workers and its U.S. headquarters to San Jose, an indication that the surge of tech expansions has begun to widen. Tech giants have gobbled up just about every large office in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino. Now the push is moving beyond those Silicon Valley hubs. “A wave of activity is coming into North San Jose and Santa Clara,” said Phil Mahoney, an executive vice president with Cornish & Carey.
Flextronics leased 140,000 square feet in America Center, a two-building office complex perched alongside Highway 237 near Great America Parkway. The Singapore-based manufacturer and assembler of electronics products is moving its U.S. headquarters to America Center from Milpitas, according to brokers from Cornish & Carey and Cassidy Turley, which arranged the deal. America Center is the same office complex in which Polycom struck a deal in August to rent 214,000 square feet, filling the entirety of one of the two buildings. Together, the Polycom and Flextronics deals are bringing at least 1,100 and as many as 1,200 jobs to San Jose, once Polycom fills up all the space it leased. Other deals are landing in Santa Clara, brokers pointed out.
Last year, Dell leased 240,000 square feet a short distance away in Santa Clara, where the computer maker has coalesced multiple operations into a research-and-development center. In November, Avaya revealed its decision to lease 275,000 square feet in Santa Clara. “We’re seeing an overflow of activity from Palo Alto, Mountain View and Sunnyvale,” said Randy Gabrielson, a Cornish & Carey executive vice president. Some firms that moved to Sunnyvale have already begun to expand there, such as Rambus and Motorola.
Industry watchers predict that the heated push to expand into San Jose and Santa Clara — along with efforts to scour Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto for any overlooked office nooks — won’t cool off soon. Flextronics said it expects to be in its new offices in San Jose by summer. The company will keep its local manufacturing in Milpitas. “It is a cost-effective move for the company,” said Flextronics spokeswoman Renee Brotherton.
North San Jose has some large blocks of space and vacant parcels where companies can gain plenty of elbow room. City officials, though, say they are helping to enhance the space availability. “We have put policies in place that have been helpful with the corporate expansions,” San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said. “We have housing under construction, about 3,000 units. Companies will have close housing access for their workers.” The city also has attempted to slash red tape for development.
“We have streamlined the permit process enormously,” Reed said. “Markets are moving fast, and companies have to be ready for that.”
SINGAPORE, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Flextronics FLEX +0.02% today announced that it was recently rated by the China CSR Research Center as one of the Top-100 Foreign Companies in China. The rating was specifically created to honor and recognize Fortune 500 Companies who have positively contributed to China’s economic as well as corporate social and environmental responsibility development. Flextronics was ranked number 46 out of a list of 100 multinational companies.
The judging committee made up of government officials, notable scholars, academicians, industry experts and netizens across the Nation rated the Top Companies based on their total investment and number of employees in China, export value, utilization of local supply chain, product and service quality, innovation, brand image, corporate social and environmental responsibility, among others.
“We are extremely honored by this rating, a testimony of Flextronics’ commitment to the region and an acknowledgement of our pioneering corporate social and environmental responsibility programs that make a difference in the lives of our people, especially the migrant workforce,” said Peter Stickler, Flextronics’ Executive Vice President of Human Resources. He continued, “Flextronics continuously strives to create a successful company that is recognized as an employer and partner of choice.”
Founded by the Southern Weekly, the China CSR Research Center is an authoritative body that promotes holistic CSR practices among local and foreign companies in China. It is also the first organization in China to have researched and assessed companies’ CSR programs based on scientific and measurable methodologies.
About Flextronics Headquartered in Singapore (Singapore Reg. No. 199002645H), Flextronics is a leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider focused on delivering complete design, engineering and manufacturing services to automotive, computing, consumer, industrial, infrastructure, medical, clean tech and mobile OEMs. Flextronics helps customers design, build, ship, and service electronics products through a network of facilities in 30 countries on four continents. This global presence provides design and engineering solutions that are combined with core electronics manufacturing and logistics services, and vertically integrated with components technologies, to optimize customer operations by lowering costs and reducing time to market. For more information, please visit www.flextronics.com .
Every day, staggering numbers of air, land and sea passengers, as well as millions of tons of cargo, move between nations. International trade and commerce has long driven the development of nations and provided unprecedented economic growth. Indeed, our future prosperity depends upon it.
At the same time, threats to trade and travel — whether from explosives hidden in a passenger’s clothing or inside a ship’s cargo, or from a natural disaster — remind us of the need for security and resilience within the global supply chain. A vulnerability or gap in any part of the world has the ability to affect the flow of goods and people thousands of miles away. For instance, just three days after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear tragedies struck Japan last March, U.S. automakers began cutting shifts and idling some plants at home. In the days that followed, they did the same at their factories in more than 10 countries around the world.
Ten years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we also continue to see the determination of individuals and groups to disrupt economies by targeting our transit and cargo systems. Understanding the seriousness of these threats underscores the need for a continued focus on protecting the global supply chain.
Just as important, we must move away from the outdated dichotomy that we have to choose between trade and travel efficiency, and trade and travel security. Security and efficiency must no longer be seen as mutually exclusive. It is possible to enhance security without increasing wait times, creating more paperwork and driving costs higher – and we are doing so already.
As I announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, the United States released a National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security, the product of more than two years of collaboration across the U.S. government, and with international and domestic public and private partners.
The National Strategy, created with the input of more than 60 subject matter experts and hundreds of supply chain stakeholders, takes a whole-of-nation approach to global supply chain systems, with two explicit goals: promoting the efficient and secure movement of goods; and fostering resiliency.
We will pursue this strategy in three main ways:
First, we will maximize resources and expertise from across the United States government to find smarter and more cost-effective ways to address security threats. This includes developing common standards, streamlining our processes and enhancing our information sharing.
Second, we will seek to foster an all-of-nation approach to leverage the critical roles played by domestic governmental and private-sector partners. The supply chain is vast and complex, touching points of manufacturing, assembly, consolidation, packaging, shipping, and warehousing, as well as supporting communications infrastructure and systems. All must play a role in its protection.
Because protecting the global supply chain is inherently an international challenge, it will take an international effort to meet it. The tremendous benefits we all reap from an interdependent global economy means that we are all stakeholders in the security of that system.
And third, we will continue to think globally, enhancing our coordination with the international community and international stakeholders who have key supply chain roles and responsibilities. We will seek to develop and implement global standards, strengthen detection, interdiction, and information-sharing capabilities, and promote end-to-end supply chain security efforts with the international community.
All nations have a stake in the supply chain’s success, and only through international cooperation will we all share in its benefits.
Over the next six months, U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, will reach out to a wide range of partners to implement the Strategy together, and to foster a secure, efficient and resilient global supply chain.
As globalization brings nations closer together, we need to jointly disprove and leave behind the notion that security and efficiency cannot coexist, and together build a security architecture that better uses information to assess risk. By taking a coordinated, strategic and thoughtful approach, we can expedite legitimate commerce while focusing our attention on that much smaller portion that poses harm. Security and confidence in the global supply chain enhance our collective economic strength, rather than impeding progress.
Our mutual understanding of this changed relationship will help us better secure the global supply chain, better promote trade and travel and ensure future economic growth. Together we can meet our shared goals, continue to build on our considerable progress, and strengthen the global supply chain to meet today’s challenges and tomorrow’s.
Janet Napolitano @ Reuters
Apple in 2011 became the biggest purchaser of semiconductors, beating out all other leading electronic manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and HP, technology research firm Garner said on Tuesday.
Apple increased its spending on semiconductors 34.6 percent, from about $12.8 billion in 2010 to $17.3 billion in 2011, Garner estimated. That was enough to boost the company from the number three spot in 2010 to number one last year.
Samsung retained the number two spot for the second year in a row, though it also increased its spending on semiconductors 9.2 percent, from $15.3 billion in 2010 to $16.7 billion last year, according to Gartner. HP, meanwhile, dropped to the third spot from number one in 2010, decreasing its spending on such technologies 5.5 percent, from $17.6 billion in 2010 to $16.6 billion last year.
“Those companies that gained share in the smartphone market, such as Apple, Samsung Electronics and HTC, increased their semiconductor demand, while those who lost market share in this segment, such as Nokia and LG Electronics, decreased their semiconductor demand,” Masatsune Yamaji, principal research analyst at Gartner, said in a statement.
Apple’s success of the MacBook Air was another factor contributing to its increase in demand for semiconductor chips.
Dell, meanwhile, took the number four spot, buying about $9.8 billion worth of semiconductors in 2011, about 6.7 percent less than it had the previous year. Number five Nokia decreased its spending 20.1 percent, the most of any leading electronic equipment manufacturer, to $9 billion last year. Rounding out the top 10 was Sony, followed by Toshiba, Lenovo, LG Electronics, and Panasonic.
Overall, leading electronic equipment vendors bought $105.6 billion worth of semiconductors during the year, about 35 percent of semiconductor vendors’ total chip revenue.
Gartner’s findings mirror data on the semiconductor market released in June by IHS iSuppli.
Earlier this month, notoriously secretive Apple revealed more than 150 suppliers on its supplier responsibility page for the first time.
Taken from PCMag.com