Where once there were two major segments of the EMS market, now there are three. Based on data from 44 MMI Top 50^TM EMS providers, computer- related business and communications infrastructure still represent the two largest segments of the EMS industry. But consumer and handheld devices are now running a close third, reflecting growth in this segment, particularly in cell phones. Consumer and handheld devices accounted for 24.1% of sales for this Top 50 group, compared with 19.4% of combined sales for 46 providers in the 2003 Top 50. This market share gain shows that sales from consumer and handheld devices grew faster than Top 50 revenue and, by extension, the entire EMS market. The growth of thisconsumer-oriented segment is one indication of the diversification that the EMS industry undertook in response to the business downturn that shook the industry a few years ago.When the downturn hit in 2001, the industry’s dependence on computer and communications business turned into a weakness.

Computing, storage and peripherals still comprised the largest segment in 2004, based on Top 50 data. But its market share shrank. Computer-related business took 34.8% of the Top 50 group’s sales last year, down from 41.7% calculated from Top 50 data in 2003. The computer industry, once the mainstay of the EMS business, now represents little more than a third of it.

Communications infrastructure, the hardest hit segment during the downturn, actually held its own vis-á-vis the other segments in 2004. For the 44 Top 50 providers in 2004, communications infrastructure contributed 25.6% of sales versus 24.3% for the 2003 group. Given that 2004 Top 50 sales grew by over 25%, a flat or slightly increased share for comm infrastructure (datacom and telecom) meant that this segment rebounded nicely last year. Segment market shares were derived from segment percentages tabulated for each of the 44 Top 50 providers on page 5. A few Top 50 providers were unwilling to furnish market segment data. Foxconn was among them. But the company’s size and impact could not be overlooked so Foxconn’s market segment data was estimated.

Note that since some top-tier pro-viders did not break out their sales by industrial, medical and instrumentation, automotive or military/aerospace, market shares for these categories could not be computed. As a result, these four segments are lumped into the "other" category shown on the pie chart. This other category has now reached 15.5% of sales, up slightly from 14.6% computed from 2003 Top 50 data. From all effort that has gone into pursuing business from the four segments in the other category, one might have expected a greater increase in market share. The other category also includes some miscellaneous product areas (see table footnotes).

The 44 Top 50 providers, for which market segment data is available, generated combined sales of $90.92 billion in 2004, or 96% of Top 50 sales. The segment market shares calculated from this data are not precise. From the table on page 5, one can see that in some cases, based on how a company broke out its sales, one category is combined with another.