Top 10 Electronic Manufacturing Companies in the World
The electronics manufacturing industry plays a crucial role in technological innovation and economic growth globally. Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers design, test, manufacture, distribute and provide return/repair services for electronic components and assemblies for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
The EMS industry has been growing steadily, driven by factors like increasing demand for consumer electronics, demand for better connectivity devices, emergence of IoT and automation technologies. This article discusses the top 10 electronics manufacturing (EMS) companies in the world based on revenue from EMS services.
1. Foxconn
Headquarters: New Taipei City, Taiwan
CEO: Young Liu
2021 EMS Revenue: $172.5 billion
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is the world’s largest electronics manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Taiwan and has manufacturing operations across China, India, Mexico, Brazil and several other countries.
Foxconn manufactures electronic products and components for many major technology companies including Apple, Amazon, Google, Nokia, Sony, Blackberry, Nintendo, Xiaomi etc. The company is Apple’s largest supplier and contributes over 50% of Foxconn’s revenues.
Foxconn specializes in assembling consumer electronics products like smartphones, computers, tablets, LCD TVs, game consoles, multimedia players etc. It also provides electronics components, enclosure systems, connectors, cables, precision molded & machined parts, and plastics to its clients.
2. Flex
Headquarters: Singapore
CEO: Revathi Advaithi
2021 EMS Revenue: $25.8 billion
Flex (previously Flextronics International Ltd) is an American multinational electronics contract manufacturer. Headquartered in Singapore, Flex has an operational presence in about 30 countries across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Flex manufactures electronic products and components across medical, automotive, telecommunications, enterprise hardware, lifestyle electronics, industrial and energy industries for major companies like GE, Lenovo, Huawei, HP, Bang & Olufsen etc.
The company provides end-to-end solutions covering product ideation, development, testing and manufacturing services to OEMs. Some of Flex’s specialization areas are power electronics, consumer devices, medical technology devices, industrial automation & control systems, networking equipment etc.
3. Jabil Circuit
Headquarters: Florida, United States
CEO: Mark Mondello
2021 EMS Revenue: $29.3 billion
Jabil Circuit is among the world’s largest diversified manufacturing services companies in the electronics industry. Headquartered in Florida, United States – Jabil has more than 100 manufacturing locations across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The company offers electronic product manufacturing services and solutions for major players in the aerospace, automation, defense, healthcare, networking & telecommunications, retail & consumer electronics, and transportation industries.
Jabil specializes in digital print, additive manufacturing, product life cycle management, product and network monitoring software solutions. Some top customers & partners include Amazon, Apple Inc, Cisco, Dropbox, Ericsson, GoPro, Huawei, HP, Honeywell, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft etc.
4. Pegatron
Headquarters: Taiwan
CEO: Syh-Jang Liao
2021 EMS Revenue: $43.3 billion
Pegatron Corporation is a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider with research and development and manufacturing operations across America, Asia and Europe.
Some of the company’s core capabilities and specialization areas include computing, communications, consumer electronics, automotive electronics, medical equipment etc.
Pegatron works with major technology companies and innovators like Microsoft, Apple, Dell, HP, Sony, Nintendo and develops IoT integrated solutions. The company serves a diversified portfolio of industries including communication, computing, consumer electronics, industrial systems, components, automotive and others.
5. Quanta Computer
Headquarters: Taiwan
CEO: Barry Lam
2021 EMS Revenue: $106 billion
Quanta Computer Inc. is the world’s largest notebook computer original design manufacturer (ODM) based out of Taiwan. Some of their key customers include Apple, Dell, Cisco, Huawei, Intel, Amazon, Google, Acer, MPC etc.
The product portfolio of Quanta incudes notebooks, mobile & smart devices, servers, storage, switches, routers, power systems, game consoles, drones, robots, healthcare products etc. They provide hardware platform integration solutions as well as manufacturing and supply chain management services to global technology companies.
Quanta has production sites as well as product development centers across Taiwan, United States, Mexico, China, Japan etc. and operates with the vision of digitizing every industry through technological innovation.
6. Sanmina Corporation
Headquarters: California, United States
CEO: Jure Sola
2021 EMS Revenue: $6.76 billion
Sanmina Corporation is a leading end-to-end manufacturing solutions provider serving the fastest growing segments in the global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) market.
Sanmina has a global operational footprint spanning across major manufacturing site locations in America, Europe and Asia. They provide comprehensive manufacturing solutions, components, products and repair, logistics and after-market services to OEMs in the optical, medical, defense, automotive and industrial markets.
Some of their key customers and partners include IBM, AT&T, GE, Bosch, Philips, L3Harris, KLA Corporation etc. Their diverse capabilities include advanced printed circuit boards fabrication, systems integration, precision machining, repair services, engineering services and supply chain solutions etc.
7. Wistron
Headquarters: Taiwan
CEO: Simon Lin
2021 EMS Revenue: $19.06 billion
Wistron Corporation is one of the largest original design manufacturers (ODM) providing ICT solutions for the new digital economy. Their services portfolio covers research & development, manufacturing of key components, final assembly, mechanical parts manufacturing, distribution and after-sales services.
Headquartered in Taiwan, Wistron has manufacturing facilities located in China, Mexico and Czech Republic. They work with leading technology companies like Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Acer, Blackberry and Dell in developing & manufacturing laptops, smartphones, networking & communication equipment, wearables, servers, medical devices and more.
8. Inventec
Headquarters: Taiwan
Chairman: Richard Lee
2021 EMS Revenue: $5.64 billion
Inventec Corporation is a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing company that specializes in storage server, commercial notebook, network communication, network security appliances and mobile devices manufacturing services.
Their major customers include global brands like Dell, HPE, Haier, Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi, OPPO, Xiaomi, Nokia etc. Inventec works across the entire product life cycle from mitigating design, manufacturing key components, system integration, precision plastics, enclosure systems to after-sales services.
Headquartered in Taiwan, Inventec has production operations set up across Czech Republic, Mexico, China and the U.S. The company has made strategic investments focusing on smart applications integration in fields such as manufacturing automation, renewable energy, edge computing, artificial intelligence, 5G and software defined data center.
9. Wingtech Technology
Headquarters: Shenzhen, China
CEO: Xiang Wang
2021 EMS Revenue: $7.57 billion
Wingtech Technology Co., Ltd. Is a leading Chinese electronic manufacturing company that specializes in mobile phones, automotive electronics, IoT, wearables, digital health products and provides complete solutions across R&D, manufacturing, supply chain management and after sales services.
Headquartered in Shenzhen, China – Wingtech works with global technology leaders like Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, Apple, BMW, Dell, HP, GE etc. The company focuses on smart terminal technology as well as auto driving electronic platform and solutions.
They have set up factories across China in Chongqing, Huizhou, Nanchang and Huaian and have a strong R&D network employing over 8000 engineers globally across various industries.
10. Bharat FIH
Headquarters: New Delhi, India
CEO: Wing Mun Aw Yong
2021 EMS Revenue: $127 million
Bharat FIH, previously Rising Stars Mobile India, is a leading Electronic Manufacturing Services company headquartered in India. They provide end-to-end manufacturing solutions in the communications, computing, consumer electronics, healthcare, industrial and automotive industries.
Bharat FIH works with major OEM’s like Xiaomi, Nokia, Oppo, Motorola, HMD Global, OnePlus etc in the smartphone and IoT devices segment. They also manufacture TV, appliances, laptops, hearables, tablets, home audio products for companies like Sony, Philips, Daikin, Thomson etc.
The company has 10 manufacturing facilities across India located in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are also setting up new dedicated units for electronics and PCB manufacturing to support the Make in India initiative.
Major Trends Driving the Electronic Manufacturing Industry Growth
- Demand for advanced consumer electronics: Increasing demand for smartphones, connected cars, AR/VR devices and other smart consumer electronics globally is a major driver of growth. Companies that can provide scalable advanced manufacturing capacity along with components supply chain gain competitive advantage.
- Emergence of AI, ML and IoT: There is high growth potential in electronic products & solutions that leverage latest technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, big data and analytics. EMS providers need to constantly invest in technology innovation hubs to stay ahead.
- Sustainability: Increasing environmental concerns and greener technology adoption is driving EMS companies to implement sustainable manufacturing practices through renewable energy usage, improving energy efficiency of facilities and maintaining global compliance standards.
- Advanced manufacturing technologies: Automation, robotics, 3D printing, miniaturization technologies provide opportunities for electronics innovators to quicken time-to-market and rapidly scale production in an agile way. EMS companies that leverage these can outperform.
Key Challenges for the Electronic Manufacturing Industry
- Skilled talent shortage: The EMS Industry faces shortage of skilled workforce including technicians, operators and engineers. Developing an open culture of upskilling and reskilling employees is important to gain a competitive edge.
- Trade wars & geopolitics: Ongoing US-China trade tensions, sanctions and geopolitics directly impact the supply chain economics for major global electronic manufacturers spanning across these countries and beyond.
- Increasing operational costs: Key operational expenses like wages, raw materials, transportation and energy costs are inflating rapidly worldwide making cost control and maintaining output quality challenging for EMS providers.
- Environmental compliance: Managing e-waste with proper recycling and disposal processes along with reducing carbon footprint through renewable energy usage, energy conservation and emissions control is critical for environment sustainability.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Top Electronics Manufacturing Companies
Here are some common questions about global EMS providers:
Q1. Which company is the world’s largest electronic manufacturing services provider?
Ans: Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd) is the world’s largest electronics manufacturing services company with 2021 EMS revenue of over $172 billion. Headquartered in Taiwan, Foxconn has over 30 years of experience in precision components manufacturing and assembly services across computing, communications and consumer electronics globally.
Q2. Which are some of the fastest-growing sectors driving demand growth for electronics manufacturing services companies?
Ans: Key sectors driving rapid growth in demand of electronics manufacturing services include consumer electronics, industrial automation, communication equipment, medical devices, defence & aerospace and automobile/EV electronics. IoT integration spanning across these sectors also provides new opportunities.
Q3. What are some key technologies leveraged by top electronics manufacturing providers?
Ans: Leading EMS companies utilizes advanced manufacturing technologies like surface mount technology (SMT), 3D printing, robotics & automation, RFID and miniaturization techniques. Emerging technologies like AI, ML, cloud computing & big data analytics are also being implemented by large players for optimizing production.
**Q4. What are the main differences between original design manufacturer (ODM) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM)? **
Ans: ODM refers to design & manufacturing services provider that produces products as per client requirements who further markets the product under its own brand. OEM refers to production of components/products that are marketed by another manufacturer under its own branding.
Q5. What are the key focus areas for sustainability in electronic manufacturing?
Ans: Major areas of focus to improve sustainability for EMS players include increasing renewable energy usage in facilities, implementing robust e-waste recycling programs to reduce toxicity, ensuring efficient wastage management, and investing in emissions control & energy conservation systems.