The days of the Rolodex are long gone, and you won’t see anyone carrying supplier books from meeting to meeting in 2014, either. As a result, component sourcing continues to become a leaner, well-engineered machine that helps enterprises to source in real-time and cut down on overhead.
While it’s impossible to predict the components that will be in the greatest demand months from now, the world is becoming increasingly more mobile, and as a result, demand for smartphone and tablet components along with cloud-friendly pieces are constantly growing.
But it’s not just consumer demand that drives component demand. Here are three factors that increase component demand:
- Planned Obsolescence – originally a means to an end during the Great Depression – or a way to sell more cars, depending on your historical perspective – planned obsolescence quickly became a product designer’s best friend (and way to remain employed). Releasing a new product every year was a great way to increase sales in the past, but now it’s also a means for driving brand loyalty, as devoted users are quick to speculate about the features of next year’s models, sometimes even before this year’s model hits shelves.
- Thirst for Innovation – planned obsolescence has its downside, though, as the reassurance of new products each year has led to an increased consumer thirst for innovation.
- No longer is a faster, more efficient model of the same smartphone good enough; there now needs to be a smart watch to pair with it or a way to use the phone in place of a credit card. Thirst for innovation drives brand accountability.
Demand for Increased Sales – The bottom line is king, and the need for increased sales drives planned obsolescence which drives a thirst for innovation, which drives more sales.
Of course there are other factors that drive up the demand for components, not the least of which is a competitor launching a new product (just ask Google), but the consumer need – whether perceived, real or just created by product designers – will always be chief among them.
