August 26, 2010

Electronics Industry Woes Affecting DCC Manufacturers

Economic uptick creating parts shortages

Digitrax’s popular new SDH 164 decoder and in general many other DCC components may have extended delivery time due to a growing shortage of parts throughout the electronics industry.

The SDH164 has not been shipped for more than 4 weeks and a company spokesman offered no ETA. Due to the extended recession and in order to maintain low inventories many major parts manufacturers have idled portions of their production lines to trim inventories. Now demand is increasing and the start up time for some of these lines may be as much as 6 months. Such common parts as simple 10k resistors used by the millions are in short supply.

Also, some DCC manufacturers are paying premium pricing. The short supply may drive prices up, only the time will tell.