OKW CapacitorsPLASTIC


ENCLOSURES Award winning designs for today’s electronics!


the order of 25 to 50 percent. "Tantalum powder supplierswould only quote on a quarterly basis because they didn't know what their costswere going to be."


"Wewere trying tominimize the damage


to customers asmuch aswe could but at the same time you have to pass along those kinds ofmaterials cost increases. There is no way to absorb them," Valletta said.


Murata Electronics’ GCJ series of soft termination capacitors, aimed at automotive applications, was developed to reduce cracks caused by bending stress


"We're much better off than we were


but with the introduction of new products that could change very quickly," said Coalson. "We all try to forecast as much as we can to prevent that but if you consider what happened at CES [Consumer Electronics Show] with all the introductions of tablets, for example, that could have a huge impact on us."


Other challenges include "staying ahead of


the technology curve sowe have the capacitance solutions thatmeet IC requirements, andworkingwith "green" technology leaders in terms of understanding howwe canworkwith them to ensure that those capabilities are put in place," Loof said.


Some of those green sectors include


alternative energy (solar, wind), smart grid, and electric drives.


Pricing challenges Perhaps the biggest challenge for capacitor makers is the pricing of rawmaterials including preciousmetals, tantalum powder and films. Tantalumpowder pricing is still a


challenge for capacitormakers, while supply is no longer an issue this year, said suppliers.


"There is no risk we're going to run out of


powder but wemay not like the price," Loof said. "I believe that's going to ease off over time but I'ma little cautious by what over timemeans exactly."


There were some shortages on tantalum


powder last year and that has resolved itself but pricing continues to increase, agreed Valletta.


Valletta said therewas a substantial price increase for tantalumcapacitors last year in


"If capacity comes online then it should


bring prices down but right nowit has stabilized at a significantly higher price than at the beginning of last year," Valletta added.


In January, Global AdvancedMetals,


formerly Talison Tantalum, announced the reopening of itsWodgina and Greenbushes tantalummining operations inWestern Australia, after being closed since 2008 during the global financial crisis. The Wodgina operation is capable of producing 1.4million lbs of tantalumpentoxide annually, almost a third of theworld's supply, according to the company. The initial production capacitywill be restarted at 700,000 lbs annually.


For independent distributor Fusion


Trade, which saw its business grow last year due to component shortages (see article on pages 34-37), long lead times and higher tags will be the normthis year for tantalumcapacitors.


Componentmanufacturers are coming out


of a heavy allocation year and there are a lot of price changes and lead time challenges, said Tobey Gonnerman, global purchasing manager for Fusion Trade in Amsterdam.


Gonnerman reports some allocation issues


for tantalumcapacitors. He said lead times are about 28 to 30weeks. "We are also hearing predictions ofmultiple price increases throughout 2011 in the 20 to 25 percent range fromthe beginning to the end of the year," he added.


"Just in the last two to threeweekswe're


seeingmajor lead time issueswith Sanyo's POSCAP tantalumcapacitors," said Gonnerman.One rumor about this sudden allocation is thatmost of the factory orders at Sanyo are being allocated towards Apple products, he said. "We sawthat in the NAND Flashmarketwhen the iPods started to become popular."


But Sanyo capacitors are used inmany applications including hard drives, DVD


p24 March 2011 | 23 okwenclosures.com


OKWENCLOSURES, INC. Phone: 800-965-9872


WALL MOUNT ENCLOSURES


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52