Design in some parts of the electronics supply chain is shifting from manufacturers to their distributors, putting pressure on buyers to evaluate their distributors on technical competence as well as product range, price and delivery.
At least that's the experience in many small-to medium-size OEMs, which are experiencing the perfect storm of shrinking in-house design staffs, increasing complexity of the electronics content in their products and increasing demand to get products to market faster.
And it's not just the OEMs that are turning to distributors: Semiconductor suppliers that are focusing on high-end accounts are relying more on their franchised distributors to provide the design help their small-and mid-size customers need to incorporate the devices into their products.
Source: Purchasing, http://www.purchasing.com