Avnet, a leading distributor of electronic components, connectors, semiconductors, and embedded technology, is based in Phoenix, AZ, and serves more than 100,000 customers in 125+ countries. Today it is a company with global revenue of over USD 26.2 billion in 2016 and ranked #380 in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2016.
Here EM spoke to Terence Tan, Regional President, Avnet Electronics Marketing, South Asia and Korea about Avnet’s leadership in Electronics Marketing and the solutions they offer to the market.
Please tell us more about Avnet.
We are one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components, connectors, semiconductors and embedded technology. We boost an extensive product line with over 400 franchise line card for semiconductors, IP&E components and embedded solutions. Our demand creation capability is supported by one of the highest FAE to FSE ratio in the industry; the high ratio demonstrates superior engineering support to customers and demand creation capability for suppliers’ products. Avnet has its Asia headquarters in Singapore, which supports markets in over 14 countries and regions. To support its design chain and supply chain services, Avnet has seven design centres and eight logistics hubs across Asia including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, and India.
Can you talk about Avnet leadership and distribution business?
Avnet has a long tradition of moving in the right direction at the right time. Like its investment in connectors and microprocessors, Avnet is now tapping into emerging technologies such as “the internet of things (IoT),” big data, and smarter grids. Our expertise in design chain and supply chain solutions is our fundamental strategy on how we deliver values to our customers. By concentrating on our valueadded activities, supply chain innovation and process streamlining, we have been able to improve Avnet’s customer satisfaction, realize improved material operations, drive more effective sales and achieve greater employee engagement, all of which contribute toward helping our partners excel in the channel and capitalize on converged and hyper-converged market opportunities.
How is IoT wave creating opportunities for Avnet?
The Internet of Things (IoT) is connecting humans to physical objects in ways we never imagined. It was projected that the IoT market opportunity will add up to be US$508B by 2019 in Asia alone and Asia Pacific is seen to have the most potential for growth compared to US and Europe. Avnet provides customers with a wide range of resources to develop IoT solutions that effectively gather information, connect to the Internet, and securely manage and analyze data. With a broad range of embedded modules and platform solutions from both suppliers and Avnet Design Service, we help our customers understand their options, reduce risks and provide access to resources to make their IoT vision a reality. To give you an example, a typical six-storey new building will have around 1,500 sensors which include surveillance camera, security access control, lift, air-conditioning and temperature control; and lighting control which can be monitored over the internet. Our personal space is another good example. There are many vital signs that can be monitored to serve various purposes. Sensors for ECG, blood pressure and heart rate monitoring will help us detect early health issues before they become chronic. Real-time data collection coupled with historical data analytics may give insights to predictive intervention. Cars are getting smarter too. Advanced Driver Assistant System (ADAS) is a hot topic today that helps drive growth for electronics in the automotive segment. Advanced camera, radar and Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) are some popular applications that enhance road safety for users. These areas I listed in smart home, medical and automotive are among the key segments we are focusing our IoT resources on. We are supported by seven design centers across Asia that focus on different core technology and market segments where one of the design centers is situated in Bangalore. Today we have five of these design centers supporting IoT in the various market segments. Currently in India, we offer IoT solutions mainly targeting home and industrial which are two booming market segments for India.
How Avnet helps partners to succeed?
In this highly competitive economy, it’s all about meeting suppliers and customers’ evolving needs. Avnet accelerates success for customers and suppliers by delivering values through its scale and scope, design chain and supply chain services. Our expertise in design chain and supply chain solutions is our fundamental strategy on how we deliver values to our customers. Being an industry leader in design chain solutions, we deliver reference and turnkey system solutions designed around our suppliers’ products and technologies to shorten time-to-market, time-to-profit for customers. With a world-class supply chain. We provide endto- end supply chain services to OEMs, EMS providers and electronics component manufacturers, enabling the ability to optimize supply chains.
