Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1496178
30 SMT007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2023 Feature Interview by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 Digi-Key's Mike Slater is vice president of global business development and responsible for supplier and customer business develop- ment around the world. After his presentation at the EMS Leadership Summit at IPC APEX EXPO 2023, Nolan Johnson reached out for additional market perspective. Here, Mike talks about the current component supply chain and what to expect in the upcoming years. He provides insight for assemblers and OEM design teams alike. Your presentation at the EMS Leadership Summit was well received. What was the general theme of your remarks? I've been at this business more than 25 years and it tends to be cyclical. We're always interested to know where we are in the cycle, and how it affects our ability to get product. What does the overall demand look like? Where do we see the market headed in the next five to 10 years? Over the past 20 years, the market has grown annually on average about 6-7%. The global electronics or semiconductor market will tell you there really hasn't been anything new that has driven that growth in that time. But we see some significant pockets of opportunity in the next five to 10 years. We break it down into a few areas: automotive and industrial, compute and data storage, and wireless. If you look at the electric vehicle (EV) market and electrification, you're just scratching the surface. EVs are just one small piece of the whole pie. Whether we're talking about EVs, or even gas- or diesel-powered cars, electronics included in these vehicles have Keep Your Foot on the Gas