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According to reports by Bishop & Associates Inc., a St. Charles, IL, U.S.–based market research firm specializing in the global electronics connector market, world connector sales achieved a 12.6% increase in 2006, marking four consecutive years of growth. There have been only four sales declines in the past 26 years, with two of them occurring in 2001 and 2002.
In fact, says the firm, all geographic regions and all end-use markets achieved growth, with North America leading the way, something the firm says may not continue because of the region’s propensity to off-shore electronic manufacturing.
Europe is the second-largest connector region of the world, with connector sales of US$9.941 billion in 2006. Europe recorded a year-to-year increase of 9.8%. In the past 26 years, the European region displayed six years of sales decline but has attained a compound average growth rate of 5.5%. Carving out a name for itself in connectors is the Nordic regions. The firm predicts that “in the next five years [2006–2011], we expect the Nordic countries to grow at a rate close to 5% per year. Ireland and Spain will outperform other European countries. Italy will not grow at the European average, and Germany’s connector growth will remain modest as well. The remaining countries will grow at some percentage points above or below the European average CAGR of 3.3%.”
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