Lead Story
Issue No. 27 - February/March
Electronics in SA [the 20% State ]
by Professor Richard Blandy
Growth in the State’s electronics industry has been, well — electric. Prof Dick Blandy explains the astonishing facts driving a sector that claims 20% of the electronics design and manufacturing activity taking place in Australia.
On 31 October 2005, the Electronics Industry Association (EIA)1 released the electronics industry’s new, 10-year strategic plan. This plan follows the ending of the industry’s previous five-year strategic plan.
The electronics industry is growing rapidly. After discussion with the EIA’s Executive Director, Jason Kuchel, my best estimates of past and forecast outcomes for the electronics industry are presented in Table 1, below.
Table 1: Revenues, Employment and Exports, South Australian Electronics Industry, 2000 - 2015
| 2000 | 2005 | 2015 | |
| Revenues | $1.4b* | $3.0b* | $12.0b** |
| Employment | 5400* | 9000* | 15000** |
| Exports | $0.4b* | $1.0b* | $7.0b** |
* estimate
** forecast
Sources: http://www.eiaa.asn.au; Industry Strategic Plan 2005-2015 (available on EIA's website); discussions with EIA Executive Director, Jason Kuchel.
Over the past five years, on average, it is estimated that industry revenues have grown by about 15% p.a., employment has grown by about 10% p.a., and exports have grown by about 20% p.a. (assuming that exports have been 30% of production). These are very high growth numbers for a South Australian industry, and indicate that the electronics industry’s share of the South Australian economy has been increasing rapidly.
Looking ahead, the strategic plan f...
