TFI's Latest Research & Insights

Since its inception, TFI has invested tens of millions of dollars in strategic research targeted at the electronics industry. Over time, many high-technology manufacturers and suppliers have grown to view TFI as the research arm of their own companies, depending heavily on the information TFI provides for making strategic business decisions. The results from these studies form the backbone of TFI's consulting engagements, workshops, seminars and publications. Findings from TFI studies are frequently quoted in industry publications and the popular business press globally.

TFI releases two different types of reports: Quarterly Forum reports, defined, funded and owned by TFI; and Client sponsored reports, defined, and funded by a single or multiple clients.

Because high-tech companies are located throughout the world, TFI conducts interviews in the primary language of most participants. TFI research analysts speak not only English, but also Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, German, French and numerous other business languages as needed.

TFI's Proprietary Research studies recur (usually annually) and are available to Quarterly Forum members only; they are not available for purchase by the general business public. TFI's major annual recurring studies are described below.

5-Year Forecast For Electronics Outsourcing (EMS & ODM)

Conducted annually since 1990, TFI's 5-Year Forecast predicts global electronics industry manufacturing and outsourcing trends. To gather the data for this study, each year TFI analysts conduct more than 1,000 questionnaire-based telephone interviews with industry executives and managers who are responsible for using, providing, and/or serving the electronics outsourcing industry.

This type of research is expensive to conduct, time-consuming and labor intensive. But in the fast-paced, capital intensive, high risk world of high technology, clients rely heavily not only on TFI's forecasting methodology to produce data available no where else, but also on TFI economists' unique insight and interpretation of the data. Clients base critical business decisions on these data, insights, and recommendations.

Annual Productivity Benchmarking (EMS & ODM)

In the 2006 version of this annual study, TFI studied the 2005 financial results of 43 public and private EMS providers and 91 public ODM companies around the world. The sample consisted of a broad range of companies from the Fortune 500 global leaders to the smaller regional and local companies. TFI included both privately held and public EMS providers and public ODM companies in the sample.

To understand both industries’ performance at a more detailed level, TFI has analyzed the companies at both an industry level and in four size category levels. These size categories are reflective of different business structures and models of the players within each size category. Since there is variance among all the players in each size category, TFI has included a set of scorecards in Exhibits One through Ten at the end of this report to provide more granular metrics information about the companies in the sample. These scorecards are a useful tool in assessing EMS and ODM performance at a detailed level.

EMS/ODM Report Card and Buyers Guide

In 2005, TFI conducted a landmark study unlike any ever done in the electronics contract manufacturing industry. TFI analysts interviewed 129 outsourcing managers and executives around the world (equally divided between Asia, the Americas, and Europe), asking each to offer detailed qualitative and quantitative information on their personal experiences with specific electronic contract manufacturers.

Initially conceived as a Sponsored Research project and funded by a consortium of six clients, this study was so well received that it has now been converted to an annual study.

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