Market trends in the electronics industry

The statistical survey of the electronics industry in the United States, published annually by the Electronic Industries Association, for several years has shown a trend of importance to all IEEE members whose employment and job assignments depend on the markets for electronic systems, equipment, and components. That trend is a decrease in the year-to-year growth of factory sales in two major components of the industry: products sold to the government and to the consuming public. The other major component, sales of industrial products, has shared this trend of arrested growth, but there is an encouraging turnaround that is evident in the projected figures for 1969. Although product sales are by no means the only significant economic factor in these industries, this indicator has a fundamental influence on future product design and development. The statistics reviewed in this article are taken by permission from the recently published ``EIA Yearbook - 1969.'' This 94-page document1 contains detailed data on sales of individual product lines, funding, employment, and related industry statistics. It is recommended highly to IEEE members, in the U.S. and elsewhere, who have an interest in the economic underpinning of our profession.