This is Part Three in Ron Bishop’s 4-Part 2024 Top 10 Connector Series.
Design engineers and purchasing personnel strive to identify the best connector companies for their design and purchasing requirements. However, identifying the best companies is not an easy task. Answers to the following questions are important:
- Which companies offer the products and services required? Which companies offer the fastest delivery, reasonable prices and exceptional quality?
- Which are the easiest companies to deal with?
- Which companies can we count on when there is a problem?
The answers to these questions are not easy. It takes hands-on experience and time to sort through the hundreds of connector companies in the industry. Only working with companies will provide the answer to “which companies do we want to include in our supply chain?”
It is nearly impossible to vet the nearly 1,500 companies in the connector industry. A process must be put in place to first determine which companies deserve a close examination. A good starting point is to examine the largest companies in sales. Generally, the larger companies have been successful because they provide good service, have high quality products, offer reasonable prices and are global. In effect, customers have rewarded them for their good performance. We believe identifying the top 10 companies, using different definitions of what constitutes top 10, is the logical starting point for identifying the best connector suppliers.
Specifically, who are the
- Top 10 in world sales
- Top 10 in each geographic region
- Top 10 by product type manufactured
- Top 10 within each market served
The first article, part 1 of 4, identified the top 10 in world sales. These companies are ranked from one to 10: TE Connectivity, Amphenol, Molex, Aptiv, Luxshare, Foxconn (FIT), Yazaki, Rosenberger, JAE and Hirose. The second article, part 2 of 4, identified the top 10 by region, adding an additional 14 companies for a total of 24 companies that achieved a top 10 ranking.
This article, part 3, identifies the top 10 in each of the end-use equipment/market sectors.
Top 10 by Market Sector
2022
When market sector is the criteria for identifying top 10 companies, an additional 10 companies, in addition to the 14 additional companies when identified by region, achieve top 10 status. This makes a total of 34 companies acquiring a top 10 position.
These additional 10 companies are Corning, KYOCERA/AVX, LEMO, ODU, Belden, Weidmüller, Carlisle, Eaton/Souriau, ITT Cannon and Radiall.
The following table identifies top 10 ranking, by region for each of the 24 companies.
Companies Achieving Top 10 Ranking
by Market Sector
Important highlights from this table include the following:
- TE Connectivity ranked in the top 10 in all market sectors.
- Amphenol ranked in the top 10 in 10 of the 11 market sectors.
- Molex ranked in the top 10 in nine of the 11 market sectors.
- Luxshare ranked in the top 10 in seven of the 11 market sectors.
- Aptiv and Foxconn (FIT) both ranked in the top 10 in six of the 11 market sectors.
- Four companies—JAE, Hirose, Samtec, and BizLink—ranked in the top 10 in four of the 11 market sectors.
- Two companies, Rosenberger and Korea Electric Terminal, ranked in three of the 11 market sectors.
Part 4 of this series will identify the top 10 by product type.
All source data referenced in the above article is derived from Bishop & Associates’ Top 100 Connector Manufacturer’s report.
Bishop & Associates, incorporated in 1985, is the leading research firm on the connector industry. The Bishop Report is a monthly newsletter that tracks the performance of the industry. To learn more or to subscribe, follow this link.
