Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1538100
20 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2025 Moser: The survey found that only 30% of OEMs made deci- sions using total cost of own- ership. The other 70% used other methodologies, which are, almost by definition, more incomplete and less robust. Separate from the survey, our analysis of 190 user-provided case studies comparing China to the U.S. showed that U.S. companies win 8% of the time based on price, 32% based on total cost, and 46% of the time if there's a 15% tariff against China. By doing the math correctly, we can bring back hundreds of bil- lions of dollars of work, if we can get the companies to do the analysis robustly. That's an opportunity for the company to be smarter, but the contract manufacturer can urge the customer to use total cost. One of my industry connec- tions is in Woodridge, Illinois. They populate circuit boards and came to me five or six years ago with a problem: A Chinese competitor offered a lower price to a good customer, and they thought they were going to lose the business. I helped them do the TCO and showed the cus- tomer that the Chinese total cost was higher, even though the Chi- nese price was lower. I got a let- ter from the VP of sales saying that TCO was the key to winning a $60 million order. In the survey, we asked the OEMs how much more they would pay for a product with one-week delivery instead of a six-week delivery, which is what surface shipments take when coming out of China. About 40% of them said they'd pay 10–20% more. Now, whether they'll really do it is a question, but that's what they said. It suggests a pri- ority for cooperating not only technically but also in terms of helping the customer improve their balance sheet. What's your take on the semi- conductor market right now? Moser: I'll be talking at SEMI West in Phoenix in October. My abstract focuses substantially on the fact that we're building so much semiconductor-making capacity in the United States, but we're not building enough semi- conductor-using capacity. If we don't increase the capacity for building electronic systems here, we'll be depending on China to buy the chips we produce, and that's just not going to work. If we want to make these semi factories succeed, we need more products assembled here: more packaging, wire harnesses, printed circuit boards, etc. I'm pushing SEMI to work on that end of things, which I know the Global Electronics Association specifically believes in. Kathy and Harry, this has been very insightful. Thank you. Moser: My pleasure. Nunnally: You're welcome, Nolan. SMT007