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A Glowing Report continued from page 24
grow to $717 million by 2014, will remain
a small piece of the overall market.
Broader picture
The performance of the optoelectronics
sector is particularly significant when
you consider that the overall electronics
market was $1.1 trillion in 2009, down
11 percent from 2008, when it was $1.24
trillion. According to IC Insights records,
that’s the first time the electronics industry
has ever recorded a double-digit decline.
And it’s only the third time since
the mid-1970s that the industry has declined
at all. Historically, according to IC
Insights, the market has averaged 4 to 6
percent annual growth.
For its part, the semiconductor industry
had revenue of $238 billion in 2009,
down 10 percent from $264 billion in
2008. For the optoelectronics segment to
record just a 5 percent drop in this environment
was actually very positive, according
to IC Insights. In fact, it appears
that semiconductors fared better than
expected in the first quarter of 2010 and
could see less of a decline than originally
estimated—so much so that the original
estimate for 15 percent growth this year
could climb to 20 percent. That would put
semiconductor sales for the year at about
$270 billion to $280 billion.
Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn., another
information technology research firm,
predicted similar growth for semiconductors
in 2010, though it is more cautious
about the second half—sticking with 15
percent growth for the year. Gartner’s
outlook for 2011, meanwhile, calls for 10
percent growth, according to Jim Walker,
vice president of research for semiconductor
manufacturing.
A remarkable recovery, to be sure,
noted Walker. The current recession
LASERpoints
Robert Kusel/Lyric Opera of Chicago
The Lyric Opera of Chicago used high-brightness LEDs as part of its recent set decoration for
“The Damnation of Faust.”
could have been much worse for electronics
firms, but they learned some lessons
from the 2000-2003 downturn.
From a financial standpoint, Walker
explained, the electronics industry is in
better shape than other industries, such as
automotive and housing. This recession
has been different forelectronics companies
than the past recession. In 2000, the
tech-heavy NASDAQ stock exchange
started a 3-year collapse, dropping from
a high of 5048.62 on March 10, 2000, to
just 1279.24 on March 12, 2003. In contrast,
consumer markets were not affected
nearly as much during that period.
“If you look at what happened in the
overall economy,” he continued, “consumers
had a little bit of a recession then, but
nothing like we’ve had in the past 2 years.
In a way, that period, from 2000 to 2003,
was worse for the semiconductor industry
than this current recession.
Back then, the industry took until
2003—2 years—to recover and reach a
utilization rate of 85 percent. “In this most
recent recession, we did that in three
continued from page 15
the operator watches a monitor and
uses the X/Y jog to align a set of camera
crosshairs to the fiducial. The camera
is either in-line with the laser or, more
commonly, set at a known offset to the
laser beam. This offset is factored into
all positional calculations. Once the first
alignment is complete, the process is repeated
for the other points. Upon completing
the last alignment, calculations
are made and the toolpath is defined,
with respect to the new alignment and
camera-offset information.
The automated machine vision
method is much faster and more accurate
than the manual approach, but
it costs more. Automated alignment is
particularly valuable when producing
large lots, but less so with small lots.
quarters,” said Walker. “We were down in
January of last year in the 40 percent utilization
range, and by December we were
up to the 85 percent utilization range. Everybody
understood what to do this time.
We turned off the spigot; we didn’t spend
on capital equipment. And, consequently,
a lot of companies had cash. They were
able to weather the storm. And we adjusted
inventories much faster.”
Overall, micromanufacturers seeking
to expand their horizons need only look
to the emerging markets mentioned here
for potential new business. If the analysts’
predictions hold true, the future may indeed
be so bright that you will need to
wear shades. µ
About the author:
Dennis Spaeth is
electronic media editor
for MICROmanufacturing
and Cutting Tool
Engineering. Phone:
(847) 714-0176. E-mail:
dspaeth@jwr.com.
Many alignment pitfalls can be
avoided and the process will run more
smoothly if parts are designed with
alignment in mind. µ
About the author: Ronald D. Schaeffer,
Ph.D., is CEO of PhotoMachining Inc.,
a high-precision laser job shop and
systems integrator in Pelham, N.H. E-mail:
rschaeffer@photomachining.com.
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