A rapidly growing consumer electronics market in India has prompted many leading manufacturers of the world to seek local partners to set shops in the subcontinent.
Those eying to enter the Indian market in a big way include Japanese testing firm Saki, Hong Kong’s surface mount technology (SMT) company WKK, Singapore’s Mydata (SMT) and USA’s Indium (solder paste).
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, global consumer electronics revenue is projected to grow by almost 10 per cent in 2008 to reach $700 billion. Interestingly, this projection has been made in the face of rising oil prices globally, accelerating inflation in both China and India and a gloomy US economy.
At a time when Asia’s position of leadership in electronics manufacturing was threatened by several factors, including Mexico’s re-emergence as an important manufacturing hub to supply to the US market, 527 international suppliers from 27 countries, mostly Asian, gathered at the GlobalTRONICS 2008 to showcase the latest technologies and mull ways and means to tide over the problems faced by the sector. GlobalTRONICS is a biennial electronics trade show and a part of the NEPCON (National Equipment and Packaging Conference) family of events that are held in China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Addressing the participants and visitors at the GlobalTRONICS 2008, which concluded on Friday, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran underlined the volatility that characterises the electronics industry. Short product cycles, technology obsolescence and intense competition added to the fast-paced nature and competitive pressures of the industry, the minister said.
“Consequently, to diversify the activities within electronics, we’ve identified new areas and are developing our capabilities to move up the value chain. In particular, we aim to secure more capital-intensive projects like the multi-billion dollar wafer fabrication plants as well as breakthrough projects like the solar cell plant of Switzerland’s Oerlikon Solar, and Rolls-Royce’s first Asian plant in Singapore to manufacture engines for large commercial aircraft,” Iswaran added.
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Underlining the continuous appetite for new innovative products, including LCD TVs, DVDs, mobile phones, laptops, video games, camcorders and navigation devices, Michelle Lim, General Manager of Reed Exhibitions Singapore-Malaysia, the official sponsor of the event, said these positive developments had boosted the industry confidence.
This was, in fact, a positive sign for Asia’s manufacturing sector, since the World Bank’s World Development Indicators online database estimated that East and Southeast Asia accounted for more than 40 per cent of the world’s combined GDP for exports of manufactured products (June 2007).
(The correspondent’s trip to Singapore was sponsored by Reed Exhibitions)