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Component Shortage Uncategorized

How electronics shortages may affect Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner, and while many shortages have calmed there are some that persist and will have an impact on the usual holiday festivities.

Despite reports that shortages are ending, more than half of semiconductor industry leaders (56%) are expecting them to continue into 2023.

There are shortages that we have been prepared for as the months counted down to the holidays. However, other shortages may catch some unawares.

Much of the news regarding shortages has revolved around the difficulty producing new, smaller nodes. These are the semiconductors going into new consumer electronics, often purchased as Christmas gifts.

What was expected:

As semiconductor shortages persist, next-gen consumer electronics will be in limited supply. Demand always spikes around the holidays, as consumers prepare for the gifting season. But some will be out of luck since electronics have also been affected by the shortages.

While consumer electronics, including smartphones, smart home devices, and games consoles have become slightly more stable, there will still be shortages in the face of holiday buying and events like Black Friday.

This also affects the manufacture of new cars, both fuel and electricity-powered models. Many car companies have lowered the number of vehicles produced. Although they haven’t been able to meet the increased demand, semiconductor shortages mean they cannot produce more.

What you didn’t expect:

New electronic components are not the only ones that are in short supply. Older components and obsolete electronic parts have also become scarcer.

Embedded flash microcontrollers are one component that has long been used in automotive manufacture. Most of the ones used are still using older nodes, like 90nm. So while new cars are being affected, older cars in need of repair will also be impacted.

Industrial electronics are also at risk due to shortages, since they similarly rely on legacy nodes. Traditionally these would be the more stable of options for electronic components. However, the reserves that have taken years to build are now being drained.

Although companies are planning on investing in legacy nodes, the shortages are expected to last until at least 2024, if not 2025.

The shortages show no sign of stopping, and manufacturers will be dealing with the effects of it for years to come. There are surely plenty of electronic components and markets affected that have not been mentioned here, so this overview is by no means exhaustive.

What to expect

As shortages persist, there’s no better time to get in touch with us.

Cyclops Electronics have an extensive supply of day-to-day and obsolete electronic components. If you have been struggling to source components elsewhere, Cyclops Electronics is there for you.

Let us provide your Christmas miracle this year, call us on +44 (0) 1904 415 415 or email us at sales@cyclops-electronics.com.

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Electronic Components Future

The tech behind the touch screen

Ever wondered how the touchscreen on your phone actually works? It’s such an integral part of our lives and, despite the fast advancements, the technology is still relatively new.

The first touch screen was invented in 1965 by E. A. Johnson and used a type of technology that is still widely used in touch screens today: capacitive.

Different types of touchscreen technology

The two main types of touch screens used are capacitive and resistive, which work in slightly different ways.

Capacitive

This tech, normally used for devices like smartphones and tablets, by making your finger part of the circuit (not in a weird way!). There are layers of glass coated with a conductive material like copper. When a smartphone user touches the screen, your finger is used as a conductor and completes the circuit.

When the ‘touch event’ occurs, the device detects the electrical charge at the location the connection is made, and the screen’s receptors can then pass the signal onto the operating system which will respond.

This is why smartphones don’t really work when you’re wearing gloves, because the conductor is blocked by an insulator. However, devices like styluses and and specially designed gloves are designed at the same level of conductivity, which is why they will work.

Resistive

Touch screens that need more durability, like the screens on ATMs and self-checkouts, are usually resistive rather than capacitive. In this type of touch screen, a glass or plastic layer is covered by a resistive layer that conducts charge. When a point is pressed on the plastic layer, the two layers touch and change electrical charge at that point.

The downside to this type of touch screens is it won’t detect more than one touch, unlike the capacitive equivalent.

Other types

There are several other types of touch screens, including ones that use infrared LEDs and photodetectors, optical sensors, and even ones that use friction and acoustic signals. However, none of these variations are used as widespread as capacitive or resistive.

Components of a touchscreen

The touch screen technology itself is comprised of around 4 layers.

The top layer, or the layer that smartphone users interact with, is the cover lens. This top layer is what we can see and what we interact with.

The next layer is the touch sensor, which is a clear panel made from glass or plastic with an electric current running through it. When a touch is registered the current causes a voltage change, which is sensed by a small microcontroller-based chip called the touch controller, that can determine the location of the touch.

Under the touch sensor is the display, usually a liquid crystal display (LCD) or active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) technology.

The final layer to the touch screen is the software, which interprets the signals transmitted to it and can form a response.

In front of the screen

Technology is currently being developed that will even take the ‘touch’ out of touch screen, which can predict the target a consumer is aiming at without them touching the screen. The tech uses AI and sensors to avoid a user needing to physically touch the screen, and so takes out the risk of any bacteria or pathogens being spread via the surface.

So, in a future where we may be more careful of what surfaces we touch, we will wait with anticipation for what touch screen technology could bring.

For peace of mind, Cyclops screen and quality test all the components we stock. For a trustworthy supplier with more than 30 years of experience, get in touch with Cyclops today at sales@cyclops-electronics.com