When you are planning next year`s budget or writing up a new business plan, it is often useful to have overall industry statistics to back up your points and projections. One source of such statistics is the reports of market research firms covering your industry, but such reports tend to be very expensive. A less costly source of overall industry statistics and information can be found in the factbooks sometimes published by trade associations.
Here are several factbooks that may be of interest to contractors and managers in the telecommunications and information-technology industries:
- The Electronic Market Data Book is billed as a statistical yearbook of the electronic industries. Following an industry overview summarizing trade and production indicators and trends, the yearbook covers in detail individual market sectors such as consumer electronics, telecommunications, government electronics, electronic components, computing equipment, and industrial and medical electronics. A final section covers international electronics, including country-by-country write-ups. The data book is available from the Electronic Industries Association (eia--Arlington, VA) for $95 (members) or $195 (non-members). For more information, call (703) 907-7500.
- The Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (cema--Arlington, VA), a sector of the eia, publishes two yearbooks of its own. The Year in Consumer Electronics has some statistical information, but it is more a description of product categories and market trends. Single copies are available for the price of postage. U.S. Consumer Electronics Industry Today, published by cema each June, is somewhat more statistical in nature. Both volumes cover audio and video products, mobile electronics, multimedia, communications and information products, and home automation and security. For more information, call cema at (703) 907-7600, fax: (703) 907-7601, or check out the Web site at www.cemacity.org.
- Aerospace Facts & Figures, published by the Aerospace Industries Association of America (Washington, DC), is a yearbook that covers the aerospace industry, as well as aircraft, missiles, space programs, air transportation, research and development, foreign trade, employment, and finance. To order, call (202) 371-8561.
If you want to find out more about the EIA or its subsidiary, the Telecommunications Industry Association (tia--Arlington, VA), each publishes an annual directory. The EIA`s Trade Directory and Membership List is available to members for $100, and to non-members for $200. The tia`s annual Directory & Desk Reference, published in cooperation with America`s Network magazine, is available by calling the tia at (703) 907-7700, fax: (703) 907-7727. Both directories include buyer`s guides for member companies.