66 SMT Magazine • August 2015
Electronics Industry News
Market Highlights
Manufacturing in a World of Stress
The Institute for Supply Management said the
Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a short-term
leading indicator of U.S. manufacturing growth,
increased by 0.7 percentage points from May to a
level of 53.5% in June.
Device Shipments to Reach 2.5 Billion
Units in 2015
Worldwide combined shipments of devices—PCs,
tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones—are ex-
pected to reach 2.5 billion units in 2015, a 1.5%
increase from 2014 and down from the previous
quarter's forecast of 2.8% growth, according to
Gartner Inc.
Wearable Medical Devices Market
to be Worth $5.8B by 2019
Transparency Market Research's report says the
global wearable medical devices market was worth
$2 billion in 2012, and is estimated to be worth
$5.8 billion by 2019. The study also indicates that
the global wearable medical devices market will
register a CAGR of 16.4% during the forecast pe-
riod of 2013 to 2019.
China: Rise of the Robots
China overtook Japan in 2013 to become the
world's largest market for industrial robots. A 53%
jump in domestic sales last year means the coun-
try now accounts for a quarter of the global mar-
ket; but analysts believe this is only the beginning,
given the low use of robots in China's production
plants.
IHS: Growth Rates of 3%
"Relic of Economic History"
The long-term potential growth rate for ad-
vanced economies will decelerate to an average
of 1.8%, down from average potential growth of
2.5% during 1990–2007, according to an analy-
sis utilizing the Global Link Model from IHS Inc.,
the leading global source of critical information
and insight.
Cloud, Big Data Driving Growth of
Data Center Equipment Market
TMR analysts state that the global data center
equipment market was worth US$32.15 billion
in 2013 and will display a 12.9% CAGR between
2014 and 2020. Digitalization of data across vari-
ous industry sectors has created unparalleled de-
mand for data storage and data backup facilities.
Enterprise Network Equipment Market
Projected to Reach $30.6B by 2020
Rising bandwidth requirements, expanding mobile
workforce, growing base of mobile Internet devic-
es, and accelerating shift towards wireless systems
are expected to drive the global enterprise network
equipment market to reach $30.6 billion by 2020,
according to GIA.
US Medical Imaging Industry
Faces Transition
Medical imaging is a notoriously data intensive field
with its volume, variety and speed of data genera-
tion multiplying every day. Conventional tools are
incapable of efficiently managing such large and
complex datasets—posing limits on scalability, sus-
tainability and usability.
Smartphone Sales Remain Vital to
IC Market in 2015
Smartphones first accounted for more than 50%
of total quarterly cell phone shipments in the first
quarter of 2013. In the fourth quarter of 2015,
smartphones are forecast to reach 435 million units
or 80% of total cell phones shipped, according to
IC Insights.
Tablet Shipments Experience Largest
Decline since Inception
For branded tablets, the year 2015 is off to a rocky
start. For the first time since inception, the popular
consumer item experienced its largest quarter-on-
quarter decline to date of 35%, and largest year-
on-year decline of 16%, according to market intel-
ligence firm ABI Research.
66 SMT Magazine • August 2015
