The Global Electronics Association and Responsible Business Alliance today announced the publication of joint guidance on Accounting for Scope 3 Category 1 Greenhouse Gas Emissions; saving time, improving data accuracy, and enabling more consistent, high-quality sustainability reporting across global supply chains.

The guidance aims to provide the electronics industry with specific knowledge and practical recommendations to support the quantification of value chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in supply chains, specifically for Category 1, purchased goods and services, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

Companies across the industry face increasing pressure to report credible and accurate Scope 3 emissions data. This includes legislation requiring companies to publicly report third-party assured Scope 3 emissions data and pressure from downstream customers that rely on supplier data to quantify their corporate GHG emissions data to inform their external disclosures and decarbonization plans.

“Although Category 1 is a material contributor to Scope 3 emissions in the electronics industry, reporting is currently limited and the use of supplier-specific data is low,” said John Mitchell, president and CEO, Global Electronics Association. “We believe practical guidance, such as this from the Global Electronics Association and the Responsible Business Alliance, can help change that dynamic.”

“This joint guidance demonstrates how the Responsible Business Alliance and Global Electronics Association are working together to build supply chain alignment around GHG reporting rules,” said Rob Lederer, CEO, Responsible Business Alliance. “By working together to provide reporting guidance, we can have a greater impact and better support companies in their GHG emission reporting and quantification efforts.”

Emissions calculations based solely on secondary data limit companies’ ability to target supply chain decarbonization and to reflect suppliers’ emissions reduction efforts in Scope 3 results. This guidance builds upon recent Scope 3, Category 1 guidance from the semiconductor industry and is designed to support a transition toward an approach that strategically leverages a combination of primary data, including supplier-specific data, and secondary data, enabling clearer insights and more targeted decarbonization efforts. 

Guidance such as this is increasingly important to GHG reporting solutions in operationalizing aligned data requests and enabling more efficient, standardized exchange of supplier GHG data across company supply chains.

View the new guidance on the Global Electronics Association website or the Responsible Business Alliance website. 

Artificial Intelligence is consuming a growing share of the world’s memory supply, leaving electronics manufacturers across industries facing longer lead times, rising prices, and increasing uncertainty, according to a new report released today from the Global Electronics Association. The report, The Memory Squeeze: How AI-Driven Capacity Reallocation Is Reshaping Memory Supply for Electronics Manufacturers, highlights a structural shift in the global memory market that is tightening supply and increasing costs across the electronics industry.

Rising demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), driven by rapid AI and data center expansion, is pulling manufacturing capacity away from conventional Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM) and NAND technology. Unlike past cycles, this represents a sustained reallocation of supply, not a temporary disruption.

Survey data shows:

• 62% of manufacturers report constrained availability or extended lead times 
• 82% report rising prices, including 33% citing significant increases 
• Just 14% expect conditions to improve in the next six months 
• While 94% of companies cite they can still source memory, most face limitations that complicate production planning and increase costs.

 Why This Shift Matters

Memory is a critical input across electronics manufacturing, and prolonged constraints are now impacting product timelines, margins, and design flexibility. The findings underscore that traditional procurement strategies are losing effectiveness as a small number of AI-driven buyers absorb a growing share of global supply.

Drawing on direct industry data, the Global Electronics Association positions this shift as a fundamental reordering of memory markets, requiring manufacturers to adopt more strategic sourcing, diversified supply relationships, and greater design adaptability. The shift is affecting products ranging from smartphones and laptops to vehicles, industrial systems, and medical devices, where memory is a critical component.

“AI isn’t just increasing demand, it’s reshaping who gets access to critical inputs. This is   a fundamental reprioritization of memory in the global electronics ecosystem,” said Shawn DuBravac, chief economist, Global Electronics Association. “As a result, manufacturers outside the AI supply chain are competing in a more constrained and less predictable market. This isn’t a short-term imbalance; it signals a longer-term shift where flexibility in design and supply strategy becomes a competitive differentiator.” 

Industry analysts expect pressure on DRAM and NAND supply to continue through 2026 as AI infrastructure spending accelerates. This could contribute to higher immediate prices for electronics, delayed production schedules, and shortages in select categories. 

About the Report

The findings are based on a February 2026 survey of global electronics manufacturers and reflect real-time market conditions. The report reinforces the Association’s role as a leading source of data-driven insight into electronics supply chain dynamics.

For more information, visit the Global Electronics Association website to download the report.

The Global Electronics Association announced the successful conclusion of APEX EXPO 2026, highlighting strong growth in attendance, a sold-out exhibition floor, and robust industry engagement across the global electronics manufacturing ecosystem. 

“APEX EXPO 2026 marked a new phase for the program, bringing deeper technical insight through the Advanced Electronic Packaging Conference, the Technology Pavilion, and the Learning Lounge,” said John W. Mitchell, Association president and CEO. “Paired with a sold-out show floor, the event brought together a truly global community, spanning the full electronics ecosystem, from component suppliers to OEMs, and from technicians to business leaders, creating the kind of collaboration that drives meaningful innovation and industry progress.”

APEX EXPO and AEP Conference Delivered:  

• Attendance reached 7,192, a four percent year-over-year increase, with 3,691 verified participants, a 3 percent increase. The event welcomed professionals from 50 countries, reinforcing APEX EXPO’s position as a premier international gathering for the electronics industry.
•  A sold-out exhibition floor, featuring 417 exhibitors across 140,000 net square feet (a three percent and five percent increase, respectively). 
• Hands-on learning and thought-provoking discussions across 25 sessions and 7 technical tracks dedicated to content spanning next-generation technologies, sustainability, and design innovation. The reimagined Advanced Electronic Packaging Conference reflects the industry’s accelerating shift toward end-to-end, component-to-system-level integration, linking materials, interconnects, architectures, and finished systems. 

Exhibitors added: 

Brent A. Fischthal, Koh Young: “It was a great show for Koh Young. From a unique lead scan perspective, it was our best lead-gen show since I started in 2018.”

John Lee, Insulectro: “I think every year is the best, but the Insulectro team is unanimous on this year. The energy, the session topics, and the robust attendance were amazing for us.”

In 2027, APEX EXPO will return to the Anaheim Convention Center, from April 3-8. 

At Electronics Manufacturing Korea (EMK) x NEPCON Korea 2026, the Global Electronics Association, in collaboration with 13 companies, showcased the IPC CFX Demo Line (Connected Factory Exchange demonstration line), marking its debut in Korea. The demonstration attracted strong interest from OEMs, EMS providers, equipment manufacturers, and solution providers across the electronics manufacturing industry.

Demonstrating Data Connectivity on a Real Production Line

The IPC CFX Demo Line, located in Hall A3 at COEX in Seoul, is built on the IPC-2591 Connected Factory Exchange (CFX) standard. By integrating multi-vendor equipment and enabling seamless data connectivity, it demonstrates key processes across production, including data collection, transmission, and application.

As a global Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) communication standard, IPC-2591 provides a unified data communication framework that enables seamless machine-to-machine and machine-to-system connectivity, as well as real-time data exchange. It serves as a key foundation for building the “Factory of the Future.”

As a foundational digital standard in electronics manufacturing, IPC-2591 CFX provides a more efficient approach to data connectivity. Its core features include:

• Unified data model: Standardized data structures and common capability requirements for equipment 
• No middleware required: Eliminates the need for middleware, simplifying system architecture and reducing costs 
• Real-time data-driven: Supports quality control, traceability, optimization, and predictive maintenance 
• Broad compatibility: Applicable to Industry 4.0, smart factories, and digital manufacturing environments 

The Demo Line highlights the following capabilities:

• Real-time data collection and visualization of equipment performance 
• Standardized data exchange across devices and systems (equipment from different vendors can communicate directly with systems using the CFX standard format, without additional integration or customization) 
• Closed-loop quality and process control in digital manufacturing (simulated interaction between SPI and Printing) 

Through live demonstrations, visitors can gain a clear understanding of how the CFX standard enables plug-and-play factory connectivity—significantly reducing system integration complexity while improving production transparency. 

From Global Practice to Korea Debut

The IPC CFX Demo Line has previously been showcased at leading international events such as IPC APEX EXPO in the United States and productronica in Germany, where it has demonstrated its effectiveness in real-world production environments across multiple markets.

Its debut in Korea represents three key strategic developments:

1. Regional expansion: Extending the CFX ecosystem from Europe, the United States, and China into Korea’s core electronics manufacturing market
2. Industry collaboration: Connecting local Korean equipment manufacturers and EMS providers with the global standards ecosystem
3. Accelerated adoption: Enabling engineers and digital transformation teams to better understand the practical data infrastructure behind smart factories

During the event, numerous engineers and industry representatives engaged with the demonstration, gaining deeper insights into the real-world applications of CFX in equipment connectivity, data collection, and intelligent decision-making.

Connecting the Future of Manufacturing Through Data

Ms. Tina Choi, Korea Representative of the Global Electronics Association, noted that the value of the CFX Demo Line lies not only in showcasing equipment, but in illustrating how data flows and is applied throughout real manufacturing processes.

“When data is effectively captured and transformed into actionable insights, manufacturers can achieve more efficient decision-making and continuous optimization. This also provides a critical foundation for digital manufacturing and AI applications.”

To date, 43 global equipment companies have passed CFX data capability validation and obtained CFX QPL certification. As more companies join this ecosystem, data connectivity based on open standards is becoming an increasingly important direction for the electronics manufacturing industry.