Semiconductor Intelligence has reported that electronics production has had slight improvements over the past three-month-average (3/12 change) with Asian countries showing a higher improvement than in Europe or the United States. The latter two did have improvement, while part of the Asian increase was impacted by the China tariffs started in 2019.

“In 2018, China electronics production growth averaged 13% versus the prior year. In 2019, the average growth dropped to 9% as some manufacturing shifted to other countries due to the trade dispute between the U.S. and China. In early 2020, China shut down many manufacturing plants in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19. As a result, 3/12 change went negative in February and March, bottoming out at -5.9% in March. China production has since recovered to 3/12 growth rates in the 11% to 12% range in May through July,” Electronics Weekly reported.

From Electronics Weekly

SI told Electronics Weekly that Taiwan benefitted the most from the production shifts away from Chinese facilities. Production of electronics has slowed over the past 3 years Semiconductor Intelligence has noted. But given the current global pandemic, even this small increase in production is impressive and a show of the industry coming back.

“Electronic production in the mature economies of the United State and European Union has shown weak to moderate growth in the last few years. U.S. 3/12 growth in 2018 averaged 4%, slowing to 0.7% in 2019. EU-27 (European Union countries excluding the UK) 3/12 growth averaged 5% in 2018 and -1.7% in 2019. 3/12 growth in the U.S. and EU has been weak in 2020, but it is difficult to say how much of this is due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how much is a continuation of previous trends. Both the U.S. and EU bounced back to 3/12 growth of 2% in July,” Electronics Weekly wrote.

From Electronics Weekly

According to Digitimes.com, Taiwanese companies HonHai and Pegatron are expected to see revenues peak in 4Q 2020 with the launch of new Apple iPhone models.

There has also been a noted increase in buying of electronic products used to help meet work and study from home needs. Computers - desktops and laptops - as well as smart devices have seen increased demand. 

“Some households which previously did not have PCs or tablets are now acquiring them, often paid for, or subsidized by, employers or school systems. This month, IDC forecast 3.3% growth in 2020 for personal computing devices (PCs, tablets, and workstations). The smartphone market was slow in the first half of 2020 due to manufacturing disruptions and the temporary closing of many retail outlets. Smartphone demand is expected to rebound in the second half of 2020 as manufacturing returns to normal. In August, IDC revised their 2020 smartphone unit shipment forecast to a 9.5% decline compared to an expected 11.9% decline in June. Apple’s expected release of its 5G iPhone 12 models in October should drive strong fourth quarter 2020,” EW explained.