Depending on when you read this issue of Connector Specifier, it’s either the last one of 2006 or the first one of 2007 for you. Either way, December and January are historically appropriate times to reflect on the past 12 months and look forward to the next 12. Not coincidentally, this last-of-2006/first-of-2007 issue devotes significant space to market wrap-ups and forecasts. And as immodest as it might be for me to say, I think this issue contains solid, pertinent information from two of the most sought-after researchers in the connector industry: Bishop & Associates and Fleck Research.
Take a look at the feature beginning on page 9 to get a detailed look at the current state and future projections for the global connector market. Ronald Bishop, founder of Bishop & Associates, provides what I like to call a “3-D” look at our industry; 3-D because it covers the direction, drivers, and dynamics that summarize the connector market. In addition, this magazine’s senior editor, Matt Vincent attended the 18th annual Fleck Connection Congress held in early Novem,ber, and reports on the full breadth of information that came out of that worthwhile event (page 13).
In my experience, bona fide market research typically is hugely popular because, I believe, it accomplishes two things: 1) it tells us in an authoritative voice what we reasonably can expect in terms of market conditions, at the very least in the short term; and 2) also in that authoritative voice, it confirms what many perceived around them in a business environment.
Plus, of course, it’s the industry’s biggest gossip column. Nothing gets people’s attention quite like ranking the players in a given industry, starting with the biggest and working down. Tying those market-share rankings to sound business intelligence makes this type of information must-have. So, my thanks go to both Ronald Bishop and Ken Fleck for allowing us to bring that information to you in this issue.
One of my favorite activities with any set of market-research data is to compare it against other, similar data and see how the two sets match up. So, for those of you ready to blaze a trail to my voicemail or e-mail inbox, please know I already am aware that the Bishop reporting and the Fleck reporting vary slightly. Perhaps most notably, Bishop states in his article that, in 2005, the global connector market reached the previous high-water market set in 2000, while information from the Fleck Congress is that the market has just about reached that height again, but still has not quite done it.
If any of us want to point out that difference and use it to cast skepticism on either or both sets of research, it is our prerogative to do so. But if we do, I humbly suggest we have thrown the proverbial baby out with the bathwater and have neglected to appreciate the nuances and idiosyncrasies of such a vast horizontal marketplace as the worldwide connector industry. Furthermore, I challenge anybody to find two separate sets of research on any single market, anywhere, over any period of time, that match each other to the dollar. If you can find such a match, let me know, because that would be big news.
Rather than investing my time in that endeavor, I believe it will be much more worthwhile to look at how similar the information is from both researchers-particularly from a trends or “big picture” standpoint. The market has climbed each year since 2003 and will continue to do so next year, even if not at 2006’s pace. Price erosion is small, primarily because of raw-materials costs. And for at least another year, the overriding front-page, bold-type headline can be summed up in one word:
China.
As Bishop points out, the healthy-again connector industry is, in many ways, a changed one. While the global connector market shows healthy growth and cannot by any measure be considered “flat,” the sometimes-criticized philosophies behind Thomas Friedman’s best-seller The World is Flat appear to ring true for the connector industry, as we ring in another new year.
Patrick McLaughlin
Chief Editor
patrick@pennwell.com
