SAN JOSE – A recent survey of nearly 300 electronics supply-chain workers found respondents are slightly more optimistic than they were in April.
 
While most respondents view the current market situation as they did in April, respondents were slightly more optimistic regarding the future, says Venture Outsource, which with IDC conducted the survey.
 
The survey’s Current Index showed 4.6 out of 10, the same as four months ago, while the Future Index was 5.1 out of 10, 5% higher than in April. This indicates a meaningful increase in optimism about the future, says Venture Outsource; yet there is no sign of irrational exuberance, or even a serious recovery, before the end of 2009, says the firm.
 
Half the respondents identified themselves as “key decision makers” in their firms, up from 11% in a first-quarter survey. Respondents who “participate in decision making” remained about constant, at 37%. Respondents with a “view into decision making” made up a smaller proportion of respondents, at just 13%, down from 18% in April.
 
According to the survey results, the downturn is widely felt, with little variation by end-market or company type. Exceptions were component manufacturers and electronics equipment manufacturers, which reported lower scores on average than their supply-chain counterparts.
 
Respondents were most pessimistic regarding the economic and employment situation, with average scores of 3.9 and 4.3 out of 10, respectively. These scores were slightly worse than April.
 
“Feelings about the future economic situation are up nearly 9% from our last survey. In the end, though, these results show a belief that business will improve, but we believe that an actual broad-based expansion of business activity is not expected across the electronics supply chain in the next one or two quarters,” said Venture Outsource.
 
For complete results, visit http://www.ventureoutsource.com/contract-manufacturing/trends-observations/2009/bumping-along-the-bottom-electronics-supply-chain-summer-09-survey-results.