FEATURE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
PROVIDING THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE IOT
Anton Wurr, Marketing Director, America II explores the Internet of Things and the role of the distributor in offering the right inventory to deliver the next generation of IoT enablement
T
he global Internet of Things (IoT) market is set to explode and an incredible number of
previously inanimate objects are now capable of relaying information and communicating with other devices. IDC has predicted this market to be worth a phenomenal $7.1 trillion by 2020. With the potential for almost any physical
object to become connected, the IoT looks set to inform a bewildering array of facets of our daily lives. From parking sensors that can point you to available spaces, to vending machines that can automatically reorder supplies, from wearables to smart cars, industrial safety monitoring to smart lighting - we’re going to see an increasing preponderance of telematics and object tracking, wireless medical appliances and connected appliances appear in our daily lives.
WHERE IS THE OPPORTUNITY? IoT brings a huge demand for a baffling number of small, inexpensive, and relatively cheap wirelessly connected devices. This, in turn, comes with a distinct opportunity for distributors who see an uptick in demand for components such as microcontrollers, sensors, wireless transceivers, power management and various discrete devices. As the demand for pervasive connectivity rises, the role of the distributor is quite simply to be able to source and deliver the right mix of parts to actualise it, in order to allow designers to get their IoT products to market. However, for a distributor to effectively
service these companies, it needs to exhibit a very specific combination of traits. IoT vendors need distributors aligned to very specific requirements. For America II, the majority of companies it
claims to be seeing best positioned to exploit the IoT opportunity are, generally mid-sized companies of under $500m, (give-or-take, and depending on territory). Given that most IoT devices require low
processing abilities, it is not always necessary to have the latest, most expensive or most advanced components. Often, companies looking to construct IoT devices can quite easily lean on non-bleeding-edge, low-cost components, or even out-of-production
16 JUNE 2015 | ELECTRONICS
essential in enabling the mid-sized companies to compete with the tier one OEM/ODMs in a crowded market and to make their mark on the significant market opportunity presented by the IoT. Alongside the reliability, credibility and guaranteed lines that scheduled business requires, distributors also need to deliver value-added services, such as inventory management, as well as open-market capabilities, to offer the most comprehensive solution to their customers. They also need to be as good as the first tier players at providing franchise parts, but with the skills necessary to provide long-term from the open market.
components at larger process geometries. Unfortunately, however, too many distributors have a business model that is significantly biased towards supporting only very large, $Bn tier-one OEMs/ODMs. These distributors, beholden to shareholders, inevitably focus on keeping stock low and turnover high. Their stock is the most profitable lines, which generate the high- volume orders. These distributors are not set up for merging the sourcing of low-cost parts required for IoT devices, together with the reliable supply of a wide range of franchise lines. In fact, in many ways, companies looking to produce IoT devices too often ‘slip between the gaps’. Franchise-only distribution companies don’t necessarily entirely suit their needs, as the parts they require are often too old or inexpensive to roll off a factory floor. Yet on the flip side they may find they’re not able to source reliable orders long-term from open-market ‘independent’ buyers. Distributors need to tailor their offering to provide the flexibility and choice that is
Figure 1 & 2:
Distributors need to tailor their offering to provide the flexibility and choice in a crowded market to leverage the significant market opportunity presented by the IoT
WHY AN ADAPTABLE MODEL IS NECESSARY As a privately held company, America II has one of the world’s largest inventories, which allows it to commit to individual orders from one quarter all the way up to two years. It is additional services such as this, presented alongside guaranteed franchise lines, that strike the right balance and provide the ideal solution for a large and fast-growing segment of the market which is set to benefit from the growth of the IoT opportunity.
America II
www.americaii.com 01462 707 070
Enter 204
/ ELECTRONICS
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