The components industry's obvious growth may be in the Asia/Pacific region, but distributors are not dismissing more modest areas of growth, including the Americas. “We consider the Americas to be an extremely viable market on a number of fronts,” says Alex Iuorio (photo), senior vice president of supplier management for Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas (Avnet EM). “We … believe there is a customer base here that will figure prominently in … innovative design.”

Iuorio points to the defense/aerospace, medical, security, lighting, and transportation segments as strong opportunities for the Americas. “There are certain members of these segments where the business [and] the products lend themselves more to not only an Americas design but also to potential manufacturing, specifically defense/aero and medical,” he says. “We made a bet to continue to support the design efforts of the overall customer base … but specifically these verticals because that's where we think the growth is going to be. When it starts to happen … we are positioned to take advantage of it.”

As evidence of Iuorio's comments, Avnet EM recently inked a deal to distribute PUI's (Projects Unlimited Inc's) line of audio-technology products in the Americas. With a military background, PUI makes indicators, speakers, and microphones that find use in medical glucose meters and infusion pumps, industrial scissor lifts and construction equipment, and consumer electronics, among other areas.

“Asia is very important,” says Iuorio, but he emphasizes that a company should also focus on other regions of the world “for their growth potentials and their potentials to contribute to the overall global value chain. We're not biased about growth,” he says. “We'll take it exactly where we can find it, where we can anticipate it, and where we can resource for it. It doesn't matter if that [growth is] in Asia or the West; we'll find ways to contribute.”