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James Bell

James Bell, Rapid's Managing Director, gives his views on the state of the electronics industry and looks forward to 2015.

2014 has been a year of significant growth at Rapid. The number of lines has nearly doubled in less than two years and next year the company will continue to expand its range and depth of product.

We expect to see a significant increase in new customer acquisition in 2015, while retaining a strong order book for existing customers. It is clear that buyers have greater choice and the market is becoming incredibly competitive. The online sales migration is definitely making customers more aware of product availability and price and Rapid will be investing in stock and adding new tools to its online offering in 2015.

The outlook for the electronics industry is one of uncertainty. Global instability does not help and I am concerned that falling oil prices will eventually lead to a downturn in production. This will have an impact on the global economy as the pendulum swings the other way and demand starts to outstrip supply. I believe the industry will maintain good growth in the first quarter of 2015, but I would hesitate to make predictions further than that.

Rapid, however, is appropriately sized and staffed to respond quickly to change. We look forward to working with new suppliers, increasing our market share and delivering continued growth throughout next year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers and suppliers for their support over the past year and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.

This article was first published in the December 2014 issue of Electronics Sourcing.