The following installment of MarketEYE offers the reader both an annualized summary and a month-by-month analysis of the global passive electronic component markets for calendar year 2014. Passive electronic components are defined for the purposes of this article as capacitors, resistors and inductors.
2014 Annualized Review Summary
The world economy for the calendar year ending December 31, 2014 demonstrated single digit year-on-year growth because of sustained recoveries in the U.S. and Japan, coupled with minor improvements in the European economy. Concerns persist because of the slowdown in growth in China which we believe to be tied to lack of demand in Europe as a whole and the negative situations in Russia, Africa and Middle East. In the United States, the economy has continued to recover as personal consumption, housing sales, medical electronics, commercial aerospace and the mining industry continued to outperform, while the employment rate continued to improve. In Europe, the strong economy in Germany and beginning signs of improvement in Southern Europe made for a gradual recovery, although in the third quarter this recovery seemed fleeting to many in Germany, France and the UK, the three key European economies. As for Asia, China maintained its high growth rate after the government took diverse steps to bolster a slowing economy; however, their annualized growth rates was significantly limited by the slowdown of European purchased of goods made in China. In India and elsewhere, smaller growth rates were seen. In Japan, the economy continued its recovery, despite a temporary reaction to the hike in consumption tax, as signs of a short-term rally were seen, corporate earnings stayed high, and the employment situation continued to improve.
