Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1067105
JANUARY 2019 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 51 the next 12 months on that end of the spec- trum. This makes it difficult to do forecasting because the major pieces of information that would be very helpful with forecasting are being held very close to the vest by the big OEMs, as they should. Martin: I can see that, particularly on some of your consumer goods. However, most of the types of products we work on are more indus- trial. They tend to have more forecast visibility. Most of them are not leading-edge technology. The handset industry drives the component market. Wherever they go, that's where the rest of us end up going too. But the rest of the customers—the industrial base customers— tend to have much more visibility or predict- ability than the latest designs. Most of them are not earth-shattering designs that come out. They're enhancements or improvements to what they've already offered. Matties: Where are you located? Martin: I'm physically located in Tampa, Flor- ida. I work remotely and travel. Matties: Good for you. We're a virtual company as well, so we have people on this call from all parts of the world right now. Martin: I appreciate all of the attention we're getting, and I hope you find it helpful. with up-to-date parts, where should they go to be effec- tive in that? Martin: With most of the designers, the distributors call on them. That's where they get their sample parts and that type of thing. They should ask their distributors for the lifecycles because they have that informa- tion. They can use a soft- ware service. There are two of them: Silicon Experts and IHS Connect. Both are excel- lent software. The distributors themselves have this information and should work with their supply chain if they don't have it. What I used to do a lot of was have lunch- and-learn meetings when I was on the OEM side. I'd bring in distributors. But in this world, and the way the technology shift is happening, they have to get ahead of this. It is not design as usual. As I said, there is a huge technol- ogy shift that is picking up speed. If they don't know the lifecycle of the components, they will be looking at major problems very shortly. Feinberg: First of all, let me compliment you. You're extremely knowledgeable about your topics and very well prepared. It's just a delight to have this conversation with you. Martin: Thank you. Feinberg: The other comment I have is on the forecasting. One of the things that makes fore- casting so difficult is that a lot of the compa- nies, the OEMs, don't and can't always talk to each other. Therefore, they kind of take each other by surprise, which they should do if they're trying to compete. I think a good example of that is Apple has just announced a set of new iPhones that are truly amazing in design, but they got caught a little bit behind Samsung, who is pushing 5G at a rate much faster than anyone thought would happen. All of a sudden, everything could change in