Of the top 101 components, LEDs, power sources, and connectors sizzle while motors and motion control products continue to chill.
“How do I submit a nomination for the top spot on your Top 101 Components list?” the desperate e-mail from one component creator decries. Another phone message from an eager PR person queries, “How do we vote for Component of the Year?”
Urgent text messages, phone calls, letters, and notes attached to radishes the size of pearls all have demanded the means and methods of getting a favorite product positioned in our Top 101 Components. But components only land our list if our readers put them there.
Yes, it’s that time again when we reveal which components from our Products of the Week e-mail newsletter drew the most curiosity and interest over the past year. Essentially, the components that garnered the most clicks made it onto the list.
It’s important to realize that this is not a qualitative analysis. Products that drew a lot of interest and scored higher than others in the same category aren’t necessarily superior in performance or any other measurable parameter.
For example, one USB connector drew more views than an HDMI connector. Both devices are interconnects. However, the results merely show that more readers needed a USB connector for their designs than the HDMI component.
The Big Picture
Obviously, components are critical to almost every design imaginable. Whereas semiconductors are becoming more integrated, so much so that a lot of discrete semiconductors are becoming unnecessary, components are still maintaining a level singularity—quite discrete, if you will. Therefore, even within a single category of component, one has somewhat more choices.
There was positive action in each component category this year, but some categories seem to be losing steam in the market, or better put, losing more steam (see the table). The categories included interconects (19%), power sources (17%), sensors & transducers (16%), passive components (14%), displays, indicators, and LEDs (13%), cabinets & enclosures (4%), motors & motion control (4%), timing devices (2%), materials (2%), and cooling products (1%).
Next: What’s Hot, What’s Cooling?
Jump To: LEDs Are the Main Attraction
Jump To: Power Sources Place Well
Jump To: Sensor, Ultracaps & Stereo Jacks Do Well
Last: The Top 101 Components List