The global crisis of 2020 has drastically impacted the electronics industry, not so much on sales but on manufacturing and production.  Companies managed to ride out the impact of the pandemic by focusing on resilience, innovation, adaptability and sound financial decisions.  However, the struggle to fully recover and sustain growth is far from over.  We can say the industry is entering a make-or-break period.  Now that they’ve surpassed the worse, how do they survive the rest?  Let’s find out how.

Companies Coming Together to Respond to COVID

At the height of the pandemic, ByteSnap Design, an electronics embedded consultancy, surveyed how electronics companies are managing.  Fifty-eight percent said they were helping fight against COVID-19, with forty-three percent of them working with other industries on equipment development, specifically medical devices.  About 19% participated in the Ventilator Challenge.

The pandemic has forever altered healthcare delivery and, to an extent, dragged the electronics industry into it.  There is a growing focus on medical technology that involves digital devices and an emerging trend towards a combined product development process.

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But the industry did not solely focus on healthcare systems. Networking gear, communication equipment, and any product that has to do with a remote working saw an increase in demand.  Electronics companies have to help meet consumers’ needs.

The takeaway here is electronics companies need to help lift each other for the survival of the entire industry, especially during emergencies. Support could be in the form of collaboration, co-creation, or crowdsourcing with clients and competitors to meet the community’s needs.

Companies Doing More to Prevent Cyber Attacks

According to the World Economic Forum, cyber-attacks have risen 50% since the onset of the pandemic.  When millions of employees transitioned to work-from-home, their primary focus was on the health crisis and not cybersecurity.  The lowered cyber defense allowed cybercriminals to compromise the systems. Some home computers are especially vulnerable because they don’t have the necessary tools to ward off malicious attacks.

The majority of electronics companies regularly secure new routes that are susceptible to cyber-attacks.  One example is keeping the software and network systems up to date. The practice is not only for their safety but also for legal compliance.  The electronics sector also invests in training all their employees about cyber security, including checking links before clicking, using secure passwords, and refraining from opening suspicious emails.  Lastly, companies are becoming aware of the importance of backing up data.  The process enables them to retrieve lost files and information in the case of a cyberattack.

Finding Different Components

There was an increase in the demand for consumer electronics at the peak of the pandemic. However, some companies failed to meet the demand for many electronics products due to the global shortage of chips.

For this reason, electronics companies are looking for alternative sources for components and parts. There is also an emphasis on having multiple and geographically diverse suppliers to mitigate the risk of shortage. Other companies are more forward-thinking and collaborate with electronics recruiting experts, such as Ko2 Solutions to hire electronics engineers for designing and developing products and devices that use alternative components.

COVID-19 is not the last nor the only global crisis that will affect the supply chain. There will be other disruptions. The electronics sector has learned its lesson and is working on minimising its dependency on a single provider.

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