Key Summary 

The Global Electronics Association February Sentiment Report shows renewed momentum across the electronics manufacturing supply chain, with new orders, shipments, and backlogs moving into expansion territory. However, persistent labor and material cost pressures, ongoing workforce shortages, and distributed capacity bottlenecks across semiconductor fabrication, packaging, and system integration continue to constrain growth, testing the industry’s ability to scale sustainably.

By Shawn DuBravac, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Global Electronics Association 

After months of cautious ordering and uneven production activity, February marked a meaningful momentum shift in electronics, according to the Global Electronics Association’s Sentiment of the Global Electronics Manufacturing Supply Chain report. 

Demand is Increasing. 

• The New Orders Diffusion Index climbed to 122 in February, up from 113 in January, the strongest reading in more than a year.
• Shipments rose seven points to 117.
• Most notably, the Backlogs Index moved into expansion territory at 108 after hovering at or below 100 for much of the past year. 

As a manufacturer, these are good: Orders are increasing. Output Up. Backlogs Growing. These signals indicate that customers have used up inventory and are placing forward-looking orders.  

Yet cost pressures remain. 

• Two-thirds (66%) of electronics manufacturers report rising labor costs,
• 61% report rising material costs.  

These remain the strongest expansion signals in the current conditions data. As demand stabilizes, margin compression risk persists unless firms offset higher input costs through pricing power, productivity gains, or mix improvements. 

Talent Costs 

This month’s survey highlights deeper structural constraints, particularly around advanced electronics scaling. Workforce and skills shortages remain the single largest barrier to growth.  

• Nearly half (49%) of respondents cite talent constraints as a top limitation.
• The Recruitment Diffusion Index remains contracted at 93, and
• The six-month outlook index of 97 suggests little near-term improvement.  

This is not cyclical softness; it reflects a structural gap between the industry’s technical demands and available labor supply. 

At Issue: Capacity Constraints 

Value chain integration is accelerating across aerospace and defense, automation, and high-performance computing. Customers are pushing for tighter coordination from design through fabrication, packaging, assembly, and system integration yet bottlenecks persist.  

• Front-end semiconductor fabrication (27%),
• Electronics assembly and system integration (27%), and
• Semiconductor packaging and test (26%).  

Constraints are not concentrated in a single segment — they are distributed across the ecosystem, underscoring the need for coordinated investment. 

Industry Leaders Align 

Industry leaders appear aligned on where attention is most needed, reporting focus on: 

• Electronics assembly and system integration - 36%
• Workforce and skills - 35%
• Materials and chemicals – 30%  

These priorities reflect both operational pressure points and longer-term competitiveness concerns. 

The Bottom Line 

February’s report reveals a clear picture:   

• Demand is improving.
• Costs remain elevated.
• Talent shortages persist.  

The electronics industry stands at a constructive but constrained inflection point — one that will reward firms able to align capacity, capability, and strategy in a more complex operating environment. 

Read full report.

Key Summary

Carbon accounting in electronics is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s a competitive requirement.

Customers are demanding product carbon footprints. Design teams are being pulled into sustainability conversations earlier than ever. Procurement is under pressure to validate supplier data. And too often, the response is the same: “We don’t have reliable, electronics-specific methods to do this well”.

At APEX EXPO 2026, we’re addressing that gap directly with two highly technical professional development courses built for the realities of semiconductors, PCBs, and PCBAs. If you’re serious about defensible carbon data, these are the rooms to be in.

PD02: Electronics-Specific Approaches to Carbon Accounting: Openly Available, Industry-Deployed Methodologies for Semiconductors
📅 Sunday, March 15
🕘 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

🗣️Udit Gupta, Cornell
📍 Room 303-B

This session goes far beyond high-level Scope 1, 2, and 3 discussions. It dives into the hardware-specific complexities of carbon accounting within the semiconductor lifecycle.

You’ll explore:

• Openly available, industry-deployed methodologies
• Practical approaches already used by major technology companies, including Meta
• How to map the environmental footprint of integrated circuits
• Strategies for navigating data gaps and supply chain variability
• How uncertainty in manufacturing impacts footprint accuracy

Semiconductors sit at the most complex layer of the electronics supply chain. If your chip-level data is flawed or incomplete, every downstream product footprint inherits that uncertainty. This course equips you with validated tools and strategic insight to build transparent, resilient carbon tracking—despite imperfect data.

PD23: Electronics-Specific Approaches to Carbon Accounting: IPC-1783-CO2e Standard for PCB and PCBA
📅 Thursday, March 19
🕗 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM

🗣️ Francis D’Souza, Banyan.eco
📍 Room 303-C

If your customers, design teams, or sustainability leaders are asking for Product Carbon Footprints—and your challenge has been finding and trusting the data without boiling the ocean—this course was built for you.

For the first time, electronics has a standardized, repeatable way to measure Product Carbon Footprints with built-in data quality control: IPC-1783-CO2E.

In this session, you will:

• Start with the fundamentals of product carbon accounting
• Work step-by-step through the IPC-1783-CO2E standard
• See practical implementation examples
• Learn directly from a Task Force member who helped develop the standard

Whether you are an OEM, EMS provider, or PCB manufacturer, this course provides a structured path to credible, auditable carbon footprint reporting at the board and assembly level.

Why These Two Courses Matter Together

Think of it this way:

• PD02 tackles carbon accounting at the semiconductor level—the deepest, most complex layer of the stack.
• PD23 provides a standardized, repeatable framework for PCB and PCBA-level carbon footprints.

Together, they offer something the industry has lacked: a technically grounded, electronics-specific pathway from chip to board to finished assembly.

If your organization is facing increasing regulatory scrutiny, customer disclosure demands, or ESG reporting requirements, generic sustainability guidance won’t be enough. You need methods that reflect the realities of fabs, material variability, multi-tier supply chains, and data uncertainty.

Right now, there’s room in the rooms, but spots are limited. If carbon accounting is part of your remit, these are the rooms you’ll want to be in on Sunday and Thursday mornings. Register now and secure your spot.