USA: According to Converge Market Insights, as the general IC market heads into the summer months, we have yet to see any dramatic changes in overall market conditions.

In fact, other than some of the specific activity mentioned in previous editions of Market Insights, there has been little change over the last 12–18 months.

There has not been any prolonged product shortages since the high CV caps were in short supply in the second half of 2006. What we have been experiencing are quick "hiccups" in the supply chain on certain products or with certain manufactures.

These shortages are not broad based, and tend to come quickly, lasting for a short amount of time before being corrected. The recent issue with shortages on Pulse products indicates just how quickly things can be corrected.

Looking forward, we have heard from a few franchise distributors and manufacturers about the possibility of price increases on certain products in the coming months. These include Altera, Broadcom, Infineon, Xilinx, and Cortina, to name a few. We have also heard that there could be some extended lead times as well, but there are no specifics as of yet.

In addition, other manufacturers are starting to increase pricing on leaded material, while at the same time they are starting to cut back on production of this material.

As most manufacturers will soon be changing all of their production to lead free, some of the leaded products will be in tight supply soon. We recommend that customers requiring leaded material for their builds plan accordingly.