Best selling author, Malcolm Gladwell’s just published book “Outliers – The story of success” could easily be describing the RF and microwave product sector.
An ‘outlier’ Gladwell says, is a scientific or statistical term that describes something that lies outside normal experience, that is markedly different from others in the sample. And that description can certainly be used to portray the RF and microwave distribution business.
Distributors relying heavily on sales of mainstream, conventional electronics components may be having a tough time today.
But there is evidence that specialist RF and microwave distributors can buck the market trend and there are two principle reasons why.
The first is that RF and microwave engineering market was a steadily growing industry sector decades before the silicon transistor made its appearance, and is likely to continue years after Moore’s law runs out of steam and silicon is finally replaced.
Quite simply, the RF and microwave arena is less influenced by the trends affecting the mainstream electronics markets.
The second reason is that specialist RF and microwave distributors are outliers. Serving this sector requires not only highly specialised expertise, but also a team approach.
Extrapolating further from Gladwell’s book, to sell RF and microwave products successfully the distributor needs to satisfy the 10,000-hour rule. That is, to be successful you need to have studied your chosen subject for at least 10,000 hours. In practical terms that’s a bare minimum of four years and more typically 10 years worth of study.
Another aspect Gladwell points out, is that the overarching factor behind the successes he studied is the ‘group’ or team effort. ‘Outliers’ become successful not only due to their own efforts, but in particular the differing contributions of other people.
It is interesting to note that the success of the specialist RF and microwave distributor continues in spite of the fact that broadline distributors and other suppliers of electronic components are trying to get a slice of the RF and microwave business as the world turns ‘wireless’. Whilst it is certainly not impossible for broadline component distributors to adjust their strategies to enter this ‘outlier’ market, they will need to do their homework, investing in expertise and experience, before they can truly be effective. In these tough times the desire to gain additional market share, has to take into account the ‘technical knowledge overhead’ required to efficiently deal with specialist sectors.
Another factor that helps the RF and microwave distributor endure the cyclical nature of the semiconductor market, is that the projects we are involved in are typically long term developments. End users are typically government organisations, multinational companies undertaking large infrastructure projects, research and academia. All of these customer groups typically take a long term view and to a certain extent are distanced from the slowdown or downturn that is, by and large, affecting the mainstream industrial and consumer markets.
Howard Venning is managing director of Aspen Electronics