APAC connector sales reach US$8m

Sales in the connector industry in the Asia Pacific region, which includes Australia, ended last year slightly better than forecast at US$8 million. The best result came from Europe where general improvements in the economies of many countries pushed the figure to US$10,643 million, outperforming the forecast by 2.2% over 2012.

Japan, on the other hand, ended the year 7.6% below forecast at US$5375 million, mainly due to a stagnant economy and the continuing high value of the yen, which affected exports.

In North America, connector performance at US$10,077 million was up 1% over forecast largely because of strong demand from the motor vehicle industry. While China started the year on a soft note, business recovered in the last half of the year to reach a total of US$11,907 million, which meant it finished the year slightly better than forecast.

The industry may well improve over the next five years because both the European and American economies are recovering, inflation and interest rates are low and China is showing signs of improved growth, according to Connector Supplier which supplied these figures.