Elektroniktidningen Prepares for New Editor
Elektroniktidningen (“The Electronics Magazine”) recently announced that long-standing team members Jan Tångring and Per Henricsson will retire after this summer, with Veijo Ojanperä set to take over responsibility for the Swedish website from August.
Ojanperä is already well known across Finland’s electronics industry, having run a Finnish electronics website for several years as well as organising an embedded conference. He is also editor of the Finnish version of ETN, which was originally formed through a joint venture with Elektroniktidningen. He speaks Swedish, which supports continuity for Elektroniktidningen’s Swedish audience and commercial partners.
The announcement from Elektroniktidningen said two printed issues will be published in the autumn, while the website and newsletter will carry on as usual. Advertisers and partners are encouraged to continue sending material and press releases to the existing editorial and advertising contacts.
In the near term, Tångring and Henricsson will still be involved behind the scenes to support Ojanperä when needed to ensure consistency and continuation of reporting on engineering, new technology, semiconductors, components, and electronics business news across Sweden and the Nordic region.
We wish Jan and Per the very best in retirement and Veijo every success as he takes on Elektroniktidningen.
Electronics Excellence Awards Return to electronica 2026
Electronic Specifier has announced the return of the Electronics Excellence Awards to electronica 2026, taking place in Munich from 10-13 November, with entries now open to companies across the electronics industry.
Originally launched at electronica 2022, the awards recognise innovative and impactful products and technologies through an independent judging process led by industry experts.
The awards are now returning to where they began, with the ceremony taking place on the first night electronica 2026, Tuesday, 10th November, at 12:30pm on the Hall C6 stage.
Electronic Specifier Managing Editor Paige Hookway urged companies to submit their entries early to maximise opportunities for editorial coverage ahead of the show.
Entrants can benefit from pre-show promotion across Electronic Specifier’s editorial channels, while category winners will receive a marketing package valued at more than £8,000 spanning Electronic Specifier’s print and digital platforms.
Entry details can be found by clicking here.
Why Microsite Development Still Matters in Modern B2B Campaigns
For lots of B2B marketing teams, the corporate website has become the default focus for every campaign, product launch, event, or content asset. Although this makes sense from a visibility perspective, corporate websites are principally designed to serve multiple audiences. i.e., prospects, customers, partners, investors, and recruits across a range of products and markets. That breadth is useful, of course, but it can actually work against what a campaign needs to be successful.
This is where microsites, which have been around quite a while, still play an important role, not simply as a smaller version of its parent website, but as a focused experience built for a specific audience. Rather than forcing the primary corporate website to be all things to all people, a microsite provides a dedicated environment where strategy, content, design, user experience, SEO, and planning can merge around a single idea.
The distinction is important because buyers do not experience campaigns in nice, neat single categories. They move between advertisements, search results, social content, webinars, analyst reports, and sales conversations. If a destination feels too generic or overcrowded, they quickly move elsewhere. A well-designed microsite reduces that slippage by presenting a clear narrative of relevant content, coupled with making the next step patently obvious. In other words, “We have what you came for and here’s where to get it.”
Microsites really come into their own when a campaign needs to provide more depth than a standard landing page can provide. For example, a product launch may need to explain more about a market challenge, introduce a significant new proposition, demonstrate enhanced capabilities, or provide hard evidence of proof points. An event will require registration, details of the agenda, detailed speaker profiles, and plans for post-event resources. A thought leadership campaign should combine research, video, commentary, and interactive tools. In each case, the goal is not to create more pages but to create a single, cohesive experience that matters.
Effective microsite design begins with a simple question: “What, precisely, do we want the audience to understand, believe, or do after visiting?” Without that, a microsite quickly becomes just a miniature corporate website filled with messages and calls to action the audience has already seen. Microsites must be disciplined about focusing on a specific audience or campaign narrative.
This focus is especially valuable in account-based marketing (ABM). Although microsites can be tailored to specific industries, regions, buying committees or strategic accounts, they can also support co-branded initiatives without requiring corporate website compromises. The result is an environment that sales teams feel is more relevant, and marketing teams can gain clearer insights into engagement and intent.
Measurement should be built into a microsite strategy from the outset. Lead-generation needs more than a form, and success metrics must be defined before development begins. Analytics should help teams understand not just how many people arrived on the microsite but how they interacted with it.
User experience is important. B2B buyers may be evaluating complex solutions, but they still expect a fast, intuitive digital experience. Interactive elements such as ROI calculators, assessments, and product selectors can be highly effective, but they should support the journey, not distract from it.
Many microsite failures stem from strategic issues rather than production quality. Common problems include unclear ownership, competing objectives, poor integration with marketing automation platforms and no plan for the site's future once the campaign ends. Others are treated primarily as design exercises when they should be viewed as campaign assets. Successful microsite development aligns audience needs, messaging, content and conversion strategy from the start.
That is why the decision to build a microsite should be approached with the same rigour as any other marketing investment. If a single landing page can achieve the objective, it may be the better choice. Likewise, content that naturally belongs within the main website should not be separated unnecessarily. However, when a campaign requires tailored storytelling, measurable engagement and a dedicated buyer journey, a microsite can provide the right environment.
Microsite planning must begin early to ensure a consistent strategy, content, design, and measurement before creative and media decisions are made. A microsite will not rescue a poorly defined campaign, but it can give a well-planned campaign the clarity, focus, and momentum needed to succeed.
How an Integrated Design Studio Helps Technology Companies Deliver More Effective Campaigns
For many technology companies, a shortage of marketing ideas is not the problem. The difficulty is turning those ideas into campaigns that are consistent, scalable, and effective across multiple channels. A launch may need assets such as landing pages, product or solution visuals, social assets, presentations, digital advertising, event materials, and sales enablement content, often within tight timelines and while drawing on limited internal resources. If those assets are developed in isolation, quality will vary, messaging will drift, and campaign performance will suffer. That is why access to an integrated design studio is not just a creative convenience; it is a practical advantage for marketing teams that need to move quickly and decisively while retaining focus and consistency.
An integrated design studio makes campaign execution a far more interconnected and manageable task. Instead of treating every asset as a one-off project, it creates a joined-up approach in which there is a throughline for visual identity, messaging hierarchy, layout principles, and content formats. Current B2B marketing best practice points to the value of coordinated multichannel delivery and reusable content, especially as buyers today typically engage across multiple touchpoints before they purchase. In practice, that means marketing teams benefit when campaign materials are designed from the start as recognisable parts of a wider vision rather than as a series of disconnected pieces. The result is stronger consistency, better efficiency, and a more coherent and, hopefully, compelling experience for the target audience.
Efficiency is one of the most immediate benefits of engaging a design team. B2B technology marketers often work under pressure to support product and solution launches, campaigns, trade shows, and ongoing content generation programmes — and to do so simultaneously. An experienced design team can develop assets faster because it understands from the start how to build with reuse and adaptation in mind. For example, a core campaign visual can also serve as a web banner, an email header, a presentation slide, a social graphic, and an event panel without needing to be reinvented each time. That saves time, reduces duplicated effort, and helps teams respond more quickly to changing priorities. It also means internal marketers can spend less time chasing and coordinating fragmented creative work and more time focusing on strategy, audience, and deliverables.
And consistency is just as important as speed. In B2B marketing, it’s well known that prospects often encounter a brand many times before they decide to act. If each touchpoint feels disconnected, the campaign rapidly loses momentum, and the final purchase stage may never be reached. An integrated design studio helps maintain a recognisable visual look and a clear message across every format, whether the audience is seeing a paid ad, downloading a product or solution brief, visiting a landing page, or speaking to sales after an event. Consistency reinforces credibility, which instils confidence and trust. It also makes a campaign feel more considered, deliberate, and professional, which matters a great deal in sectors where buyers are assessing both technical competence and commercial reliability.
Adaptability is another major benefit of using a design team. As we know, technology marketers rarely speak to a single audience or rely on a single platform. They need campaigns that can flex to the needs of technical specialists, procurement teams, business leaders, channel partners, or other stakeholders, each with different priorities and expectations. A good integrated studio can build designs that make those adaptations much easier and more effective. The central message stays intact, but how it is expressed can be tailored to suit the platform and the audience.
For example, a high-level value proposition might take the lead in a social campaign, while more detailed technical visuals can be used to support deeper-stage contacts during the buyer journey. This ability to adapt without losing coherence is what makes campaigns more usable and more successful.
For Napier’s Design Studio, the benefit of having such an integrated role with a client is not simply about providing access to design resources, but access to a team that understands how B2B technology marketing works. That includes creating assets that align with positioning, work across channels, support sales conversations, and help complex propositions reach the right audiences with clarity.
For technology companies under pressure to do more with less, an integrated design studio can make a measurable difference. This is because it helps campaigns launch faster, look more consistent, adapt more easily, and perform more effectively across multiple channels. In a market where attention is hard won, that kind of support is not just operationally useful; it’s a strategic imperative. Design teams that combine technical understanding with creative, consistent execution turn good ideas into strong campaigns, and strong campaigns into better results.
Taken together, the three blogs we’ve shared with you recently make the same broad point, but from different perspectives.
Fundamentally, in B2B technology marketing, great design is not decorative, nor is it separate from strategy. Done well, it enables brands to clearly communicate complex ideas, build stronger narratives for different stakeholders, and deliver more consistent, integrated campaigns throughout the buyer journey. Whether the goal is sharper positioning, clearer technical communication, or more effective campaign delivery, design has a profound impact on improving performance in each of those areas.
If your team is looking for a design partner that understands the realities of B2B technology marketing, Napier’s Design Studio is the right place to enquire. From campaign concepts and visual systems to multichannel asset development and technical storytelling, Napier’s team works with global technology brands to create designs that are built to engage, enlighten, and deliver.
Get in touch with Napier today for a no-obligation assessment of your current campaigns or future requirements.
From Complex Technology to Clear Storytelling: How Design Supports Technical Marketing
Technical marketing is rarely short of useful substance. The real challenge, however, is to make that substance resonate with the right people in the right way. In B2B technology, marketers often work with highly complex products and solutions, specialist terminology, and extended buying cycles that involve multiple stakeholders along the way. Technical specialists may want detailed validation, while commercial decision-makers are looking for risk reduction, return on investment, and confidence in the supplier. Procurement teams, on the other hand, need clarity on value and reliability, while senior leadership often wants to understand the longer-term strategic impact. There are many, and sometimes disparate, people to please, and one message has to work for them all. But simply piling on more and more information is not the answer. What matters most is how that information is structured and presented.
That’s why storytelling, particularly visual storytelling, matters in technical marketing. In a B2B context, storytelling is not about oversimplifying technology or substituting vague marketing language for facts. It’s about creating a clear narrative that helps an audience understand what a product or solution does, why it matters, and how it can provide a tangible benefit or resolve an ongoing problem. Recent thought leadership about B2B storytelling and buyer behaviour points to the same conclusion: buyers respond better when technical detail is connected to outcomes, context, and relevance rather than when it is presented as an isolated list of features. For technology brands, that means moving beyond specification-led communication and building content that infuses technical capability with business value.
Design is central to that process. Good design brings technical marketing to life by clarifying what should be the focus, what requires deeper explanation, and how different messages can be adapted for different stages of the buyer journey. To achieve this, dense, highly detailed technical copy can be reshaped into layouts that make key messages easier to absorb and digest. A detailed product or solution proposition can be expressed in multiple forms, from high-level campaign assets that build awareness to deeper materials that get to the heart of evaluation and purchase.
In short, design does not diminish the importance of technical content. Rather, it makes that content more memorable and usable.
This is important because the B2B buyer journey is no longer linear. Buyers today are more self-directed, more digitally led, and more likely to involve a wider group of stakeholders long before they ever speak with a supplier. That means the marketing content and how it is presented must do more of the heavy lifting. A technical white paper might reassure a technical specialist, but it will not necessarily help a commercial stakeholder quickly understand the strategic fit. A product or solution brief may be essential for one audience but wholly ineffective for another. The aim of design is to create a logically connected set of assets that speak to different priorities without losing the thread of the overall story.
And it’s this balance between clarity and credibility that is crucial. Technical audiences quickly lose interest, and trust, if marketing outreach feels superficial, but non-technical audiences will equally switch off if the content is too dense. Effective design helps brands strike the correct balance by enabling marketers to layer information so that audiences can engage at the level that suits them. For example, an executive summary can identify a problem and its commercial impact, while supporting visuals and follow-on content provide technical evidence to back the claim. In that way, design becomes a practical tool for steering attention, building confidence, and making complex information easier to navigate without neglecting the fundamental substance that buyers require.
This is where the specialist expertise of Napier’s Design Studio makes such a difference. Technical marketing support requires more than creative flair. It requires an understanding of how B2B technology markets work, how technology buyers assess suppliers, and how campaigns need to support awareness, evaluation, and, ultimately, conversion. When designers understand the commercial purpose behind the content, they can create assets that are not only visually memorable but strategically useful. That could mean helping a client sharpen a core campaign message, developing a visual system that holds together across multiple formats, or turning a technically rich proposition into communications that resonate with each respective audience.
For B2B technology marketers, complex technology does not necessarily equate to complicated marketing. The most effective brands are those that make sophisticated products and solutions easier to understand, easier to evaluate, and easier to buy. Strong storytelling, supported by thoughtful design, enables technical content to work smarter across the buyer journey and gives marketing teams better options for engaging diverse stakeholders, strengthening credibility, and converting expertise into a clear vision. That is precisely how a specialist design team enables technical marketing to deliver successfully.
Why Great Design Matters in B2B Technology Marketing
In B2B technology marketing, design is sometimes treated as a finishing touch rather than a commercial tool. That is a missed opportunity. When products and solutions are technically advanced, buying groups are diverse, and sales cycles are long, strong design plays a critical role in helping companies communicate clearly and compete more effectively. It is not simply about making materials look polished. It is about making complex ideas easier to understand, making propositions easier to remember, and making it easier for buyers to move from initial interest to real engagement.
That matters because technology companies rarely market simple products or solutions to simple audiences. A campaign may need to speak to technical specialists who want depth and detail, procurement teams focused on risk and value, and senior decision-makers who need a clear business case. If the message is hard to follow, even the strongest solution can lose momentum. Recent B2B research from McKinsey highlights how buyers now use multiple channels to evaluate options and make decisions and expect a seamless experience across them, which raises the importance of clear, consistent communication at every touchpoint. Another widely cited theme in current B2B marketing is that clarity often outperforms cleverness when buyers need to assess value quickly and confidently, and we tend to agree.
When clarity and cleverness converge, design creates real business value. Good design helps marketers structure information so that the most important messages are clear at a glance. It can convert a dense technical explanation into a visual narrative, show where a product or solution fits within a wider technology ecosystem, or help audiences clearly understand the difference between features and benefits. For companies selling sophisticated products, platforms, software, services, or technologies, that translation layer is vital. Buyers do not need less substance. They need substance presented in a way that reduces resistance and supports decision-making.
Effective design also strengthens brand presence in markets where many offerings can appear similar on the surface. In competitive B2B technology categories, differentiation is rarely achieved through claims alone. It comes from how consistently a company expresses its expertise, point of view, and value across campaigns, websites, presentations, product launches, and sales materials. Strong visual communication supports that consistency. It gives marketing teams a more recognisable identity, helps campaigns feel joined up across channels, and makes it easier for prospects to connect individual pieces of content back to a wider brand story. That consistency is especially important when buyers may encounter a brand through ten or more interactions before making a decision.
There is also a practical internal advantage. Many B2B technology marketing teams are under pressure to deliver more campaigns, more assets, and more channel-specific content without increasing complexity or slowing time to market. A well-run design function does more than produce individual assets. It creates systems, templates, and adaptable content that help teams work faster while maintaining quality. A single campaign concept can be developed into a landing page, a solution brief, a social asset, a presentation, and event graphics without losing coherence. That improves efficiency, supports better return on investment, and reduces the strain on internal teams that are often balancing specialist knowledge with limited resources.
This is why the role of a specialist design partner matters. For B2B technology brands, the best creative support is not separate from strategy. It is part of how technical value is translated into market impact. Napier’s Design Studio is most valuable when it blends creative thinking with an understanding of how technology markets work, how technical audiences evaluate information, and what campaigns require if they are to perform commercially. That combination helps ensure design choices are not only visually arresting but relevant to buyer needs and wider marketing objectives.
For technology marketers, the takeaway is straightforward. Design should not be an afterthought. Great design is a powerful business tool that imparts clarity, boosts lead generation, strengthens brand credibility, and enables good marketing campaigns to do a better job across every channel. In a sector where complexity is a given, companies that communicate clearly are often the ones that gain attention, build trust, and increase momentum. For these reasons and many more, good design should have a central and more strategic role in B2B technology marketing.
B2B Inbound Marketing for Complex Technology
For many technology companies, the biggest marketing challenge is not just about generating leads. It’s about remaining visible, credible, and useful while buyers are still, as they often are, months away from making a decision. Complex B2B market journeys rarely move in a straight line. They are usually shaped by technical evaluation, internal consensus, budget timing, risk assessment, and sharply competing priorities.
This is why B2B inbound marketing must be more than just a lead generation tactic. For technology businesses with long sales cycles, it’s an essential visibility and trust-building discipline. The role is to help buyers understand challenges, compare options, and build confidence in you before a sales conversation takes place.
Technology purchases are often high-consideration decisions. Whether the solution is a SaaS platform, cybersecurity tool, data infrastructure service, or advanced manufacturing technology, buyers have to assess a wide range of considerations such as functionality, integration, security, commercial value, and long-term scalability. Engineers will want technical proof, IT teams will crave integration assurance, procurement will want hard evidence of value, and senior leaders will insist on some form of validation that the investment will support their planned business outcomes.
It is this complexity that changes the role of marketing. In shorter buying cycles, campaigns can generate demand and convert it quickly. In technology markets, demand often matures slowly. If a company only targets those ready to speak to sales immediately, it negates future buyers who are still actively learning about what you have to offer.
To be effective, inbound marketing must recognise that influence begins long before a prospect fills in a form or requests a demo. They may be searching for technical guidance, reading analyst commentary, comparing approaches, or reviewing educational content. However, these early interactions are vital to shape perception and help buyers decide which suppliers really understand their business and their needs.
Technology companies should not measure inbound marketing success (or failure) solely by immediate conversion. Its value is to create helpful, relevant touchpoints that build confidence over time. A well-crafted strategy enables a brand to readily answer practical questions that reduce uncertainty, so by the time a prospect is ready to engage, the supplier already feels like part of the team.
The most useful inbound programmes are built around buyer questions rather than internal sales messages. At the awareness stage, content should help prospects understand market trends, emerging risks, operational challenges and strategic opportunities. For a technology audience, this should include educational articles, industry commentary, technical experts, or thought leadership that frames why an issue really matters.
As buyers move into the consideration phase, they need content that helps them compare approaches. The aim is not to push a product too early, but to help buyers make sense of the landscape.
At the evaluation stage, buyers want proof. Case studies, customer stories, product deep dives, and ROI perspectives are important. Buyers need to know whether the solution works, and whether it can be adopted, justified, and scaled.
A defining feature of B2B technology buying is the number of people involved. Engineers, IT, procurement, and security teams will respond to supplier credibility and perceived value. Executives will care most about strategic outcomes, return on investment, and competitive advantage.
A mature inbound marketing strategy recognises these differences and uses them to create an ecosystem that enables each stakeholder to find the right information (for them) at the right level of detail. This matters a great deal because a technically strong solution can stall if the commercial case is unclear, while a strong business case can fail if technical teams lack confidence.
Search visibility remains key because buyers tend to educate themselves before speaking to suppliers. For technology companies, SEO is not just about ranking for high-volume keywords. It is about being discoverable when buyers ask specific, high-intent questions that reveal where they are in their thinking.
When inbound marketing and SEO work in tandem, content becomes a long-term asset. A strong article, guide, or explainer will continue to attract and educate relevant audiences long after a campaign has ended. This also helps to keep you visible as a “go to” over time.
The most effective technology marketers treat inbound content as part of the buying infrastructure, not as a separate, disconnected publishing activity. It should track with sales conversations, customer insight, product positioning, and market education as part of a whole; and be reviewed regularly as buyer questions change over time.
In complex B2B technology markets, not every valuable buyer is ready to convert today. Inbound marketing gives companies a way to remain present during this phase without scaring the target away by trying to force the issue.
Instead, establish yourself as a consistently useful resource. Technology buyers remember the brands that helped them understand a problem long before they were ready to buy.
Trust in a highly sophisticated technology solution is rarely won in a single campaign. It is earned through repeated moments of relevance across a long, consistent, and carefully considered journey.
If you want to win. Play the long game.
B2B Content Marketing in the AI Era: What Still Drives Results?
AI has transformed content creation. Tasks that once took days can now be completed in hours, helping marketing teams produce more with fewer resources. For businesses focused on lead generation, the efficiency gains are significant.
But while AI has changed how content is created, it has not changed what makes it effective. Potential buyers increasingly look for content that is credible, relevant, and useful. AI can accelerate production volume, but it cannot replace the expertise, strategy, and insight that drive real business results.
Why B2B Content Marketing Still Matters
Today’s B2B buyers complete much of their research before speaking to a vendor, so content often shapes opinions and purchasing decisions early in the journey.
For technology companies, content is especially valuable because complex products often require education before buyers are ready to engage. Strong content explains technical ideas, answers common questions, and links product capabilities to realistic outcomes.
Effective B2B content marketing, therefore, does more than attract traffic. Done right, it builds trust, supports sales conversations, and helps hasten prospects’ journey through the buying process.
How AI Is Changing B2B Content Marketing
AI Improves Efficiency
For starters, AI helps marketers streamline production by generating drafts, summarising research, identifying topic opportunities, and repurposing existing assets.
These capabilities let teams create more content in less time, but speed should never be confused with quality. AI-generated content can lack the depth and nuance needed for technical audiences.
The most successful organisations use AI to improve productivity while maintaining strong editorial oversight and expert input.
Smarter Content Strategy
AI can also provide audience insights. By analysing search trends, engagement data, and content performance, marketers can reveal content gaps and identify opportunities more efficiently.
However, technology alone does not constitute a successful strategy. AI may identify patterns, but marketers must still decide which of those patterns matter, how they align with business goals, and where they sit most logically within the buyer journey.
The takeaway here is that although data can inform decisions, strategy remains a human responsibility.
Personalisation at Scale
Personalisation is another area where AI creates value. Marketers can tailor messaging by industry, audience segment, or buying stage without building entirely separate campaigns.
This personalisation helps deliver more useful and successful experiences, but only when the underlying content is valuable. AI can readily adapt messaging, but it cannot create strategic clarity or original insight if none existed in the first place.
What AI Cannot Replace
Subject-Matter Expertise and Thought Leadership
As AI-generated content becomes more widespread, genuine human expertise becomes a stronger differentiator. Buyers want information from organisations that fully understand the nuances of their industry, technology, and pain points.
That’s why thought leadership still matters. Original perspectives, expert analysis, customer experience, and proprietary research help businesses stand out in crowded markets.
AI can organise and present information, but it cannot independently create a unique point of view. The most influential content still comes from people with genuine experience and knowledge.
Strategic Planning
AI can support planning, but it can’t generate specific business priorities or meaningful marketing objectives. Successful content programmes still require clear goals, audience understanding, and a structured approach to distribution.
Many organisations struggle not because they lack content, but because they lack direction. Publishing loads of content without a clear purpose rarely delivers measurable outcomes.
The best B2B inbound marketing programmes think of AI simply as a tool within a broader strategic framework, not as a replacement for actual marketing experience.
Best Practices That Still Drive Results
Despite the rise of AI, there are still a number of principles that make a positive difference to results.
First, focus on buyer benefits, not product features. Content that helps prospects solve problems is more likely to build trust, engagement, and sales.
Second, if you can, invest in original research that can offer unique insights. Carefully constructed and researched surveys, industry analysis, customer data, and expert interviews create assets that competitors cannot easily replicate because they are unique to you.
Third, build and expand content around key topic areas instead of publishing pieces in isolation. Structured content improves visibility, authority, and the user experience.
Finally, maximise the value of existing assets. You probably have a lot more available to you than you realise. Reports, webinars, and white papers can almost always be repurposed into blogs, social posts, sales materials, and email campaigns. AI can streamline this process, but the quality of the source material is what is going to make the difference to its value to your audience.
Don’t Do This
Don’t prioritise volume over quality. More is not more in the sense that more content does not equate to more sales.
Don’t rely on AI-generated copy without careful review and editing. This is especially important in technical sectors where inaccuracies can be a major deal breaker or, shall we say, another deal breaker.
Don’t overlook distribution. Content needs a plan for search, email, social media, paid promotion, and sales enablement if it is going to influence the right people in the right way. Again, this is not a function of volume, but precision.
Conclusion
AI is reshaping how marketers create content, but it is not replacing the fundamentals that make B2B content marketing work. Buyers still value relevance, expertise, originality, and trust that AI just doesn’t offer.
The organisations achieving the best results use AI as a tool to improve efficiency while simultaneously strengthening the human elements that will always matter most. By combining technology with strong strategy, thought leadership, and a clear understanding of the buyer, marketers will continue to make a meaningful and monumental difference.
Napier has been doing this for more than 40 years, helping organisations build B2B content marketing programmes that now include balancing AI-driven efficiency with the traditional expertise and strategic thinking needed to drive long-term growth.
We’re quite proud of that.
B2B ABM and AI: Smarter Targeting, Better Personalisation for Modern Marketers
For B2B marketers, B2B account-based marketing (ABM) has moved far beyond being a niche tactic for a handful of strategic accounts. Today, B2B ABM is a practical way to focus time, budget, and energy on the organisations most likely to deliver revenue while supporting stronger sales and marketing coordination. This matters now more than ever as buying journeys become longer, decision-making groups become larger, and the pressure grows to prove commercial viability.
The challenge, of course, is scale. Personalising outreach across dozens or even hundreds of target accounts can be a big ask for any B2B marketing team. This is where AI is beginning to make a real difference. Not by replacing marketers, but by helping them identify better opportunities, improve their B2B content marketing, and deliver more relevant experiences.
At heart, B2B ABM is a highly focused approach and treats high-value accounts as markets in their own right. Rather than broadcasting the same message to everyone, account-based marketing delivers content directly related to the specific needs of the people involved in the buying decision. That could mean a one-to-one programme for a strategic enterprise account, a one-to-few campaign for a tightly defined segment, or a one-to-many model powered by data, automation, and B2B inbound marketing principles. All three approaches share the same principle: relevance drives results.
So, where does AI-powered ABM add value? First, it improves account selection. Instead of relying only on instinct or broad filters, teams can analyse a richer mix of data, including technographics, intent signals and historical pipeline performance. That helps marketers focus on the accounts most likely to engage and convert. In practice, this wastes less effort and forges a stronger connection between campaign activity and pipeline quality.
Second, AI helps teams prioritise accounts. Content consumption, website behaviour, and research trends can all provide clues that indicate where interest is growing. Used well, these signals enable marketing and sales teams to focus on accounts showing genuine momentum rather than simply responding to surface-level engagement. In a market where timing matters, that little extra bit of intelligence can make ABM campaigns far more effective.
Third, AI in B2B ABM is helping marketers scale content personalisation without losing sight of relevance. It can support the creation of industry-specific messaging, tailored email copy, account-focused landing pages, microsite development, and more dynamic web experiences. For firms investing in B2B content marketing, this creates new opportunities to deliver useful, relevant material that reflects where each account is in its buying journey. But this is where discipline matters most. Personalisation that is shallow, inaccurate, or over-automated (impersonal) can often do more harm than good.
AI can also strengthen one of the most important parts of any ABM strategy, and that is the all-important alignment between sales and marketing. When both teams can see account activity summaries, engagement patterns, and recommended next actions, it’s easier for both departments to coordinate outreach and concentrate on the right opportunities. This is especially important in complex B2B environments, where buying committees are often broad and different stakeholders tend to engage in different ways at different times.
Finally, another area where AI-powered B2B ABM can have a measurable impact is in campaign optimisation. By analysing engagement trends, content performance, and conversion data, respective teams can spot what is or isn’t working much sooner and course-correct faster. That may mean, for example, shifting budget towards higher-performing channels, refining messaging for a particular segment, improving B2B inbound marketing journeys, or identifying which assets are most effective at moving accounts forward. The benefit is not just efficiency. It’s the ability to establish and nurture programmes that learn and improve over time.
Of course, there are always mistakes to avoid. The biggest one is probably treating AI as a shortcut to a carefully researched strategy. If your ideal customer profile is unclear, your data is unreliable, or your teams are not on the same page about goals, there is no tool in a box that will fix the underlying problem.
For B2B marketing teams, the takeaway is pretty straightforward. The future of ABM is not man versus machine. It is human insight supported by better intelligence, stronger data, and smarter execution. The teams that benefit most from AI for ABM are likely to be those that combine strategic focus with practical experimentation, using technology to make their programmes more targeted, more timely and more measurable.
If you are exploring how to build a more effective B2B ABM strategy, it helps to work with a partner that understands both the data and the reality of complex technology buying journeys. Napier B2B is very familiar with all of those aspects, with a long history of coupling its content marketing expertise with practical campaign execution experience to help brands improve relevance, reduce wasted spend, and generate stronger return on investment.
The New Era of Modern Marketing: Clarity, Credibility, and Category Creation
In today’s fast‑moving world of technological disruption, marketing is no longer a supporting function, it is a strategic engine room that determines whether innovation crosses the threshold or stalls at the starting line. Few articulate this notion better than Jackie Rutter, Chief Marketing Officer at Menlo Microsystems, whose perspective on modern marketing reflects the realities of deep‑tech industries, i.e., balancing complex products, sceptical audiences, long design cycles, and the prospect enormous market potential. Rutter recently joined Napier’s Marketing B2B Technology podcast, where she outlined a vision for marketing in the high-tech industry that is focused, credible, and deeply integrated with engineering. Her insights illustrate how modern marketers need to operate if they are going to have any lasting impact in their business.
Marketing as Technology’s Voice
Rutter is quick to point out that groundbreaking innovations fail all the time. Not because the technology is flawed, but because the value of it isn’t communicated clearly. In sectors crowded with complexity, customers very rarely adopt what they don’t understand. Marketing must be the bridge between advanced engineering and practical user relevance.
This means demystifying dense technical concepts by telling real-world stories that resonate with decision‑makers. The goal is not to oversimplify, but to translate value: What problem does this solve? Why does it matter now? How does it outperform existing solutions? The marketer’s role is to pull technology out of the lab and into the market by answering those questions with clarity and relevance.
Category Creation as a Strategic Lever
At Menlo Micro, Rutter leaned into a powerful idea, i.e., if your technology is disruptive enough, don’t just pick fights within the existing category, define a new one.
Menlo’s “Ideal Switch”, for example, challenges decades‑old switching technologies by introducing a new-concept product that is simultaneously smaller, faster, and more efficient than any alternatives currently on the market. But groundbreaking technology is often met with scepticism, especially from engineers who value data over hype.
That’s where category creation becomes essential. Instead of forcing a new technology to make sense using outdated terminology, Rutter advocates building a new conceptual frame around it. This aligns expectations, clarifies differentiation, and positions the company and its product as a category leader rather than late-arriving also-ran in a crowded field.
In short, in a field of one, you’re always the leader.
The Power of Focus Means Solving High‑Value Problems First
Early in Menlo’s evolution, its marketing team cast a wide net by trying to address every potential market and application. But it rapidly became apparent that broad messaging diluted impact. Rutter was quick to recognise that “depth beats breadth”.
Menlo’s marketing pivot was therefore wholly intentional. The plan focussed on identifying a small number of high‑value, high‑urgency problems, and devise the means to solve them exceptionally well. This meant focusing on:
- Critical components in data centres (GPUs, CPUs)
- Ongoing reliability challenges in energy systems
- Emerging and quite unique demands in quantum computing
- Mission‑critical aerospace and defence applications
By identifying elegant solutions to problems experienced by well‑defined audiences, Menlo accelerated its product adoption and continuously strengthened its credibility. This is what modern account‑based marketing looks like. Strategic, deliberate, and deeply rooted in solving real problems for real customers.
It Isn’t Hype If It Does What You Say It Can
Rutter is crystal clear. High tech marketing jargon counts for nothing if the technology itself can’t back it up.
Engineers and technical buyers respond to transparent data; validated performance; real‑world deployments; and testimonials from respected industry partners. Furthermore, third‑party validation from acknowledged industry leaders carry far more weight than chest beating. Rutter calls this “earned thought leadership” and, in B2B markets, it is one of the most valuable assets a company can cultivate.
B2B Marketing Is Becoming More Human
Interestingly, although her world is deeply technical, Rutter sees technical B2B and B2C communication styles converging. That’s because modern buyers expect intuitive digital journeys, clear narratives, and compelling storytelling, characteristics that apply to both worlds.
Even in industries with multi‑year design cycles, the human element still matters. High‑value deals require trust, and trust is built through human expertise, meaningful relationships, and consistent engagement—not automation alone.
AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement
Rutter acknowledges that AI accelerates research, drafting, and content creation. But she emphasizes that judgment, contextual nuance, and expertise remain human responsibilities. In markets where precision and credibility are everything, AI enhances efficiency—but cannot replace authentic experience.
Distilled to its essence, Jackie Rutter’s view of modern marketing is clear:
Marketing is the catalyst that transforms technological potential into market reality.
What Are the Best Marketing Automation Tools for B2B Technology Companies?
A Practitioner’s View from Industrial and Engineering Markets
After years of evaluating and implementing marketing automation platforms for industrial, engineering, and electronics companies, Napier has noticed a familiar pattern.
When results fall short, the blame usually lands on the tool:
“HubSpot doesn’t work for industrial.”
“Marketo is too complex for engineering buyers.”
“Our market just isn’t suited to automation.”
In reality, the issue is rarely the platform itself. Industrial and electronics companies don’t need different marketing automation tools. They need those tools configured for how technical buying actually works.
Why Marketing Automation Feels Misaligned in Technical B2B
Most marketing automation platforms are built on assumptions shaped by SaaS demand models:
- Short, linear sales cycles
- One or two decision-makers
- Clear handoffs from marketing to sales
Industrial and electronics buying breaks every one of those assumptions.
Sales cycles often stretch six to eighteen months or more, decisions involve multiple stakeholders, and journeys are highly non-linear and research-driven. In electronics, early design-in activity may occur long before marketing has visibility, followed by a long gap between design approval and revenue. Add distributors into the mix and attribution becomes even harder.
When these realities collide with default platform setups, disappointment is inevitable.
Where Most Implementations Go Wrong
From Napier’s perspective, underperformance usually stems from three areas.
First, lead scoring ignores technical intent.
Most scoring models overvalue email clicks and form fills, while underweighting signals that actually matter to engineers such as datasheet downloads, CAD and 3D files, reference designs, evaluation kits, and application notes. A CAD download is often a far stronger buying signal than an email open, but many systems aren’t configured to reflect that.
Second, lifecycle models don’t match technical buying stages.
Standard MQL/SQL definitions rarely account for design-in, prototyping, validation, or distributor-led procurement. As a result, Sales is either handed leads too early or loses visibility entirely once opportunities become too complex to pursue.
Third, attribution collapses under long timeframes.
Offline sales activity, distributor influence, and delayed revenue make simple attribution models unusable. Marketing ends up reporting activity metrics instead of business impact.
None of these are platform limitations. They’re implementation and strategy issues.
How to Evaluate Marketing Automation Platforms for Industrial B2B
Instead of asking “Which tool is best?”, it’s better to ask:
“Which platform can be realistically configured to support our sales process?”
To determine this, use these four criteria.
Technical Lead Scoring
Can the platform weight engineering-driven actions like datasheets, CAD files, and repeat product engagement, and distinguish genuine design intent from casual browsing?
Support for Long, Complex Sales Cycles
Can stages such as Awareness, Evaluation, Design-in, Prototype, and Production be modelled? Does the system handle long nurturing timelines and multiple stakeholders per account?
Sales, Engineering, and Channel Alignment
Strong CRM integration, account-level visibility, and the ability to share engagement insights across marketing, sales, field engineers and, ideally, distributors are critical.
Measurable (If delayed) ROI
You don’t need instant attribution, but you do need to connect early design engagement to downstream revenue and offline influence.
Platform Comparison: Capability vs Complexity
There is no universally “best” platform, only better fits for what you want to achieve.
For example, enterprise platforms like HubSpot and Marketo offer tremendous flexibility and power. They can support complex industrial buying journeys, but only when backed by a clear strategy and proper configuration. Without that, they’re often underutilised.
CRM-integrated platforms such as Pardot work well in sales-led organisations where account-based visibility is essential. The trade-off is reduced flexibility outside the CRM ecosystem.
Simpler platforms can be useful for early-stage engagement or smaller teams, but they tend to struggle with complex lifecycle modelling, technical scoring, and global scale.
Strategy First, Platform Second
The industrial and electronics companies succeeding with marketing automation aren’t using different tools because they’re:
- Scoring technical engagement properly
- Designing lifecycles around real buying stages
- Measuring influence instead of chasing SaaS-style metrics
So, it’s clear that marketing automation works in engineering-led B2B, but it’s best when it’s designed for engineers, not convenience.
New State of Marketing to Engineers Report Reveals Insights into AI
Recent research entitled “The State of Marketing to Engineers” confirms what many B2B marketers have long believed, i.e., reaching technical audiences requires a different approach. Engineers are highly informed, research-driven, and, now, increasingly digital in their buying journeys. But they are cautious about hype, selective about channels, and deeply reliant on credible technical content. For agencies and brands trying to influence purchase decisions, the report’s message is clear: authority, relevance, and trust matter more than ever.
Fresh findings from the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers report confirm that engineers do not respond to marketing initiatives in the same way as other audiences. That’s because engineers are highly analytical, independent-minded, and particularly discerning about the sources they choose to trust.
The survey, conducted by GlobalSpec, and TREW Marketing in collaboration with Elektor, gathered and assessed responses from more than 1,100 engineers and technical professionals around the world. Among the many highlights in the report, it shows that technical buyers are now spending more of their journey online, consuming a broad mix of independent editorial content, vendor information, video, newsletters, and peer-led platforms before they make decisions for their business.
One of the most interesting items on everyone’s agenda is the rise of generative AI. According to the report, 69% of technical buyers now use generative AI during some portion of the purchasing process. Interestingly, although the adoption of AI is becoming more widespread, it is not an indication of full trust in it. Rather, engineers are experimenting with AI to frame problems, familiarise themselves with new terminology, and shortlist their options, but they remain cautious about relying on it for final answers.
In fact, the survey shows that only a small minority believe AI summaries – in isolation - are enough to sway a major decision. The truth, the report suggests, is that AI is becoming a first step in research to finetune the available choices rather than be the final word. What this means for B2B marketers is that they more than ever still need to generate robust, discoverable, and technically accurate content that is compelling enough to warrant deeper investigation by a prospective decision maker.
The report also reinforces the continued importance of trusted channels. Online technical publications remain one of the most used research resources, closely followed by vendor websites. That combination matters because it shows engineers want both independent validation and direct access to product specifics. Newsletters also remain especially effective in this type of marketing, with the vast majority of technical buyers subscribing to work-related titles and actively engaging with the content. Rather than being passive readers, many click through to full articles, download datasheets, and visit supplier websites.
Video is another growing force, particularly short how-to clips, technical explainers, and product demonstrations. YouTube continues to dominate social media, while LinkedIn, Reddit, GitHub and Stack Overflow are each playing important roles depending on that audience’s age, discipline, and region.
Brand visibility is still a powerful influence, too. When buyers are presented with similar technical solutions, the majority are more likely to select the better-known brand, and more than half say familiarity had influenced a recent purchase. For engineering audiences, brand is not simply about awareness; it signals reliability, expertise, and a lower perceived risk.
The report also revealed that engineers still prefer low-pressure communication, with email favoured over phone outreach. That preference reflects a typical engineer’s desire to stay in control of the process, review information carefully, and engage when the timing suits them, not the other way around.
For Napier, these insights closely mirror how we build campaigns for B2B technology clients. We know that effective marketing to technical audiences depends on credible messaging; strong technical content; the intelligent use of earned and owned channels; and campaigns that support long buying cycles rather than disrupt them. That is why we focus on helping clients create authoritative content; strengthen their visibility across media they and their peers trust; build brands that reflect their expertise; and use channels such as email, video, and social platforms in ways that chime with real buyer behaviour.
As AI reshapes some aspects of marketing, the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Report is a timely reminder that the fundamentals still matter as much or more than they ever have. Engineers may be exploring new tools, but they continue to reward clarity, credibility, and value just as they always have, and that is exactly what Napier strives to deliver.
The full report can be downloaded here.
Get Your Instrumentation & Electronics Award Entry In!
With the 30th June entry deadline fast approaching, industry professionals are being encouraged to submit their nominations for the 2026 Instrumentation & Electronics Awards (I&EA) while there is still time.
Organised by Datateam Business Media, the I&EA remains one of our sector’s most established and highly regarded vehicles for recognising engineering achievement, technical innovation and the real-world impact of industrial technologies.
Following the success of last year’s combined format, which brought together the Instrumentation Excellence Awards and the Electronics Industry Awards, the 2026 I&EA’s will build on that momentum as an important focal point for organisations operating across instrumentation, electronics, and industrial technology to reflect the reality of the accelerating convergence of these sectors and the technical challenges they share.
The awards are sponsored by Emerson, Microchip Technology, Napier, and Vision Engineering and are open to manufacturers, suppliers, integrators, and end users. Entries should demonstrate not only technical expertise, but measurable improvements in areas such as efficiency, reliability, safety, and operational performance.
From component-level innovation through to large-scale system integration, the programme is designed to showcase the full breadth of activity taking place across the industrial technology landscape.
An exciting development for 2026 is the introduction of three new award categories.
“Industrial AI Product of the Year” recognises the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence within operational environments. As AI technologies become more widely used for predictive maintenance, process optimisation, and advanced data analysis, the award will highlight solutions delivering measurable operational benefits.
The “Passive Component / Electromechanical Product of the Year” category will recognise the engineering expertise behind the components that underpin modern electronic systems. Passive and electromechanical technologies continue to play a critical role in areas such as energy efficiency, thermal stability and long-term durability, particularly in demanding industrial applications.
The third new category, the “Academic Support & Training” will celebrate organisations and initiatives that help to strengthen links between industry and academia while supporting the next generation of engineers and technical specialists.
Alongside the new categories, the awards will continue to recognise excellence with Product Awards, including power electronics, semiconductors and test and measurement technologies. The Business Awards will again highlight the support functions essential to bringing new technologies to market, while the Individual Awards will celebrate engineers and innovators who are driving progress throughout the industry.
Best of all, entries are free and can be submitted through the official awards website before the 30 June deadline.
Winners will be announced on 15th October 2026 at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London, where professionals from across the supply chain will gather to celebrate success, network, and discuss the technologies that are shaping our collective future.
Enter, and join us, at the 2026 Instrumentation & Electronics Awards!
Future Horizons: May Semiconductor Update
We’re pleased to share the Future Horizons Semiconductor May update.
You can find the latest industry insights below:
Executive Summary
May’s WSTS Report saw March’s total monthly semiconductor sales up 88.1 percent vs. March 2025, albeit down 8.5 percent from February 2026. This month-on-month decline needs to put in the context of February’s record-breaking 25.7 percent monthly growth.
This growth, however, was solely attributable to ICs, up 99.5 percent year-on-year, more specifically to Memory, up 269.1 percent, and Logic, up 38.9 percent, each in turn driven by the still white-hot AI-datacenter explosion.
In sharp contrast, IC growth excluding Memory was just 28.3 percent, Analog 13.8 percent, and Micro 8.8 percent, with Opto up 12.3 percent, and Discretes up just 10.1 percent.
Annualised IC unit growth was relatively strong in March, up 20.3 percent vs. February’s 9.9 percent, but this does not detract from the fact the current stratospheric IC growth is being driven by ASPs, not real market demand. This, plus the fact it is severely AI Datacentre dependent, makes the current recovery untenable in the longer term. IC ASPs will drop like a rock when the datacentre boom slows, and the memory market will crash once new capacity comes on stream.
IC unit growth was also single digit, at just 9.9 percent, re-enforcing the fact the current stratospheric IC growth is being driven by ASPs, not real market demand. This, plus the fact it is severely AI Datacentre dependent, makes the current recovery untenable longer term.
ASPs will drop like a rock when the datacentre boom slows, and the memory market will crash once new capacity comes on stream.
Market Outlook
At our recent IFS2026 industry webinar, we updated our outlook for the rest of this year. Given the current growth rates are wild, the numbers insane, with no clear baseline to underpin a consistent set of assumptions, we elected to provide a series of forecast guidance scenarios in lieu of our traditional forecast with bull and bear boundaries.
The likelihood of which scenario materialised depending on three factors, namely, the global economy, the AI boom and memory ASPs.
These in turn depend on how long the Middle East war hostilities and associated disruptions continue; if (when?) investor and AI market data centre exuberance wanes; and how soon new DRAM capacity comes onstream.
The net result was a potential market growth of anywhere from 13 to 101 percent.
The key difference between our view on the market and the overwhelming industry consensus is the impact of AI.
We do not accept that today’s AI boom represents a brave new world of AI-driven semiconductor reality, given AI chips account for between 25-50 percent of the total revenue, depending on how you count it, but significantly less than 1 percent of the total unit shipments.
The current boon may well be the second longest on record, with dollar growth rates to die for, but unit growth is abysmal and the non-AI markets struggling.
Whilst we absolutely believe AI will eventually transform the world as we currently know it, just as the car, air and rail travel, telecommunications, radio, TV, calculators, computers, the Internet and numerous other breathtaking inventions changed the way we live, work and play, we believe these all take time to materialise and the durable path of the associated technological evolution has yet to emerge.
We are the only analyst currently forecasting an industry downturn “maybe this year, if not, next” but we believe the risks are clear given the current market anomalies.
Unit growth is below the industry trend-line and market growth is being driven by ASPs not unit demand, which is unusual. It’s usually the other way round.
The industry’s recent dollar growth is alarmingly unprecedented with Q1-2026, normally the weakest quarter of the year, seeing quarter-on-quarter sales grow 25 percent. That is not only the strongest growth for Q1 over Q4 growth in the 70 plus year industry history, the first quarter growth average is minus 3 percent, it is the highest quarterly growth rate ever.
If datacenter investment weakens, AI chip sales will inevitably follow.
The more optimistic chip forecast current grabbing the headlines would see the chip market increase its share of the US$126 trillion world GDP market from 0.6 percent to 1.5 percent by 2035, growing three times as fast as the historical GDP growth rate, twice as fast as the pre-AI industry average, and with no slowdown in growth.
With all due respects, this is not going to happen. There will be a correction. Either AI demand will tank, or the infrastructure will not be able to keep pace with the demand.
Enjoy the current party but proceed with extreme caution. Do not be misled by current headline dollar growth numbers, they reflect ASP expansion, not underlying demand.
Women in Tech Forum Returns for electronica 2026
Napier was delighted to learn from Electronic Specifier that its Women in Tech forum will return at electronica 2026, bringing renewed focus to leadership development, workforce dynamics, and collaboration across the electronics sector.
Framed against a backdrop of one of the industry’s biggest global events, the forum is designed to spark practical discussion on how a more inclusive and balanced leadership pipeline can strengthen long-term business performance.
electronica 2026 will take place in Munich from 10–13 November 2026, reinforcing its role as a major meeting point for the international electronics industry. In that high-profile setting, the return of the forum signals continued momentum behind industry conversations around inclusion, representation, and leadership.
The programme will feature a keynote address, a panel discussion, and dedicated networking opportunities. Together, these sessions aim to combine data-led insight with lived experience, exploring how accountability, collaboration, and balanced leadership can help organisations build stronger teams and deliver sustainable growth.
Sponsored by Rochester Electronics, the forum typically attracts engineers, senior leaders, HR and DEI professionals, and emerging talent interested in building more inclusive workplaces across the technology ecosystem.
Keynote to spotlight leadership data and lived experience
This year’s session is scheduled to open with a keynote address from Jackie Mattox, Chief Executive Officer of WE United, who will present findings from the inaugural Lead Forward Report. The report examines leadership progression through six connected areas: representation, compensation, workforce participation, corporate initiatives, access to capital, and policy, offering attendees a broad view of the structural factors shaping career advancement in the sector.
By framing the conversation around experience-based evidence, the keynote will set the tone for a forum that aims to be both reflective and action-oriented.
Panel to explore disruption, leadership, and practical change
Following the keynote, a panel moderated by Paige Hookway, Managing Editor at Electronic Specifier, who will convene a range of industry voices to discuss the shared responsibility of strengthening leadership pipelines and addressing systemic barriers that continue to affect performance, progression, and retention across the industry.
According to Paige, the panel will explore a range of strategic and practical themes, including:
- Leadership progression and addressing gaps in representation, compensation, and access to opportunity
- Measurable progress and the key performance indicators that matter
- Leadership accountability and collaboration can contribute to stronger business outcomes
- Practical approaches to building balanced, high-performance teams
With insightful discussions, valuable networking opportunities, and perspectives from leaders across the industry, Women in Tech promises to be a highlight of electronica 2026. Whether you are an engineer, business leader, HR professional, or emerging talent, the forum will offer a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas, build connections, and help shape a more inclusive future for the electronics sector. Attendees are encouraged to join the conversation and be a contributor to the industry’s continued progress and enlightenment.
Finland Embedded Conference Announced for 2026
Artificial intelligence is set to take centre stage at this year’s Embedded Conference Finland 2026 (ECF26) as organisers prepare to explore how agentic AI is reshaping the future of embedded systems development.
Now entering its seventh year, the conference will take place on October 20 at the Maria01 campus in Kamppi, Helsinki, bringing together engineers, developers, technology companies and embedded systems specialists from across the Nordic region and beyond.
Recognised as Finland’s leading event dedicated to embedded technologies, the 2026 edition will focus firmly on the growing role of AI within embedded design and deployment. Under the theme “Agentic AI in Embedded?”, this year’s conference will explore how intelligent, autonomous systems are moving from experimental concepts into practical engineering applications.
ECF26 organisers say the message for the industry is becoming increasingly clear: AI is no longer an optional enhancement layered onto existing products, but a core component of embedded development itself.
And as embedded systems become more sophisticated and interconnected, engineers are facing growing demands for devices capable of autonomous decision-making, adaptive behaviour, and real-time analysis at the edge. The rise of agentic AI. i.e., systems that are able to act independently to achieve predefined goals, is expected to be one of the most fiercely debated topics at this year’s event.
The conference will also provide attendees with an opportunity to explore the latest developments in embedded AI architectures, edge computing, low-power machine learning, and intelligent system integration. Discussions will also centre on the practical challenges associated with deploying AI in embedded environments, including power efficiency, reliability, cybersecurity, and software complexity.
Hosting the event on the Maria01 campus further reinforces the conference’s focus on innovation and emerging technologies. The Helsinki campus is one of the leading startup and technology hubs in Northern Europe, making it a fitting venue to host deep conversations about the next generation of intelligent embedded systems.
The growing prominence of AI within the embedded sector reflects wider industry trends across automotive electronics, industrial automation, IoT devices, robotics, and intelligent infrastructure. Developers are being asked to design systems capable not only of sensing and processing information, but also of making autonomous operational decisions in real time.
For many companies, this shift represents both an opportunity and a challenge. While AI-enabled embedded systems promise significant advances in efficiency, functionality, and automation, they also require radical new thinking in terms of approaches to hardware design, software development, and systems engineering.
Embedded Conference Finland 2026 is expected to attract strong attendance from technology professionals who want to understand how the industry is adapting to a rapidly evolving business landscape.
Further information about the conference is available by clicking here.
What to Look for When Choosing a LinkedIn Marketing Agency for a B2B Engineering Business
LinkedIn has rapidly evolved to work exceptionally well for B2B campaigns. However, in the wrong hands, it has also developed the ability to consume sizeable budgets and leave very little to show for it.
The fact is, LinkedIn is one of the few platforms where you can reliably reach engineers, technical decision‑makers, and operational leaders. But success in B2B engineering doesn’t come from LinkedIn Ads alone. It comes from how well the agency running those ads understands complex buying behaviour, technical credibility, and the need for commercial outcomes.
If you’re contemplating or already evaluating “specialist” LinkedIn marketing B2B agencies for your engineering business, the following are the characteristics to look for in a prospective agency that really matter.
Determine if they understand why most generic LinkedIn strategies fail in the engineering sector
Engineering and industrial markets are fundamentally different from mainstream B2B. You’re dealing with niche audiences, highly specialised roles, and buying decisions that involve engineers, operations, and commercial stakeholders, often coupled with long, research‑driven sales cycles.
Many specialist LinkedIn agencies struggle because they try to graft broad, “tried and true” playbooks that include generic targeting, superficial “thought leadership”, and optimisations based solely on clicks or engagement. This approach might look good on a dashboard, but it very rarely results in a successful pipeline.
The agency you want will recognise that engineering audiences are usually small and highly specialised, potentially very valuable, but generally quite sceptical of marketing. What makes the difference to a marketing strategy for this audience is that it must reflect how those buyers research, evaluate, and justify their internal decisions.
Targeting goes far beyond job titles
If a prospective agency’s targeting strategy starts and ends by going after job titles like “Engineer” or “Engineering Manager,” that should be a yellow flag.
Good LinkedIn specialists understand that engineering job titles are inconsistent and very often meaningless without context. Instead, they build layered targeting strategies that are a more refined mix of job titles with skills, industries, and seniority.
Just as importantly, they know what to exclude, such as students, job seekers, and tyre kickers who may inflate lead numbers but represent zero value. The bottom line here is that really homing in on what comprises a specific audience matters far more than overall reach.
Better they obsess over lead quality than lead volume
One of the most common frustrations engineering leadership teams voice is: “We’re getting tonnes of leads, but the sales team say they’re useless.” This can be a frequent source of internal friction that is counterproductive.
Experienced agencies like Napier design LinkedIn campaigns with qualification baked in. Lead forms don’t just collect names and titles, they identify role type, company fit, and, whenever possible, purchasing intent. The marketing agency will work very closely with sales to define what, to them, constitutes a qualified lead across engineering, operational, and commercial stakeholders.
Remember this, a few high‑quality conversations will always outperform high volumes of poor‑fit enquiries.
Find out if they measure success in bottom line revenue - or vanity metrics
Clicks, impressions, and engagement are all well and good, and they’re easy to report. Pipeline activity and revenue generation, on the other hand, are harder to quantify, but that’s part of the agency’s job.
A credible LinkedIn agency will be able to clearly articulate how they measure success. They will be able to talk confidently about cost per qualified lead, opportunity conversion rates, and pipeline contributions.
If an agency can’t explain how your LinkedIn spend will translate into revenue generation, they’re spending a lot of your money optimising your campaign for the wrong thing.
They can create content that engineers trust
Engineers are technically literate and, therefore, highly sceptical of marketing fluff. Verifiable facts matter to them. This means that the content they expect is educational, practical, and grounded in real‑world applications.
The best agencies don’t pretend to be engineers but do demonstrate a genuine interest in technical understanding. For example, they will be eager to collaborate with subject‑matter experts, both internal and external, to ensure their LinkedIn campaigns reflect real solutions to engineering challenges rather than hype.
They deliver a structured, yet adaptive process
Look closely at how an agency operates once a campaign goes live. Comprehensive onboarding, deep discovery, continuous testing, and strategic iteration are non‑negotiable if you want to be successful in technical markets.
LinkedIn success in B2B engineering is not about “one and done” campaigns. It’s about building a consistent, repeatable, optimised process that can evolve as market conditions, audiences, and commercial priorities change.
Choosing the right LinkedIn marketing agency is all about selecting who truly understands how engineers and industrial buyers think and make decisions. Napier’s in-house digital team understands this importance and how to turn LinkedIn campaigns into tangible, measurable financial success for your business.
Get in touch with the team to find out more.
Electronics Weekly Moves to a Fully Digital Publishing Model
In April 2026, Electronics Weekly began a new chapter in its long history, transitioning to a fully digital publishing model. The move marked a significant milestone for a title that has served the global electronics engineering community for more than 65 years, reflecting both changing reader behaviours and the growing opportunities of digital media.
The transition was not simply about ending print. Rather, it represents a strategic investment in digital content, data, and events that enables Electronics Weekly to deliver greater immediacy for its readers while offering advertisers more measurable value. As engineers and industry professionals increasingly access information online, the publication is now fully compatible with how its audience now reads, engages and connects.
Editor Caroline Hayes described the change as an energising evolution for the brand. “The immediacy of the web is exciting,” she said. “It enables us to deliver information closer to events as well as more options for readers to digest news and information.”
This immediacy underlines the publication’s ambition to expand digital formats, including daily news, in‑depth analysis, video, podcasts, and a growing programme of online and virtual events.
The final print edition of *Electronics Weekly* was published on 18 March 2026, wrapping up a proud chapter in print publishing. The focus now is firmly on digital innovation. A new-look website is planned for later in the year, designed to enhance the user experience while supporting deeper data insights and richer content formats.
According to Steve Ray, associate publisher of Electronics Weekly, the move was in direct response to market needs and future‑proofs the publication. By going fully digital, the team can invest more heavily in what readers and partners value most: trusted journalism, timely insights and meaningful engagement. Importantly, the digital model also better serves the publication’s large and growing international audience, ensuring that quality journalism remains accessible worldwide.
For advertisers, the benefits of the digital transition are equally compelling. Enhanced digital programmes will include CPL lead generation, improved campaign attribution and expanded audience insight and benchmarking capabilities. These tools offer greater transparency and clearer return on investment, helping brands connect more effectively with a highly specialised and influential audience.
Alongside daily journalism, Electronics Weekly will continue to expand its respected awards programmes, including the Women Leaders in Electronics and Elektra Awards, as well as its calendar of content‑led events. One highlight for later in 2026 is the Energy Efficiency in the AI Age virtual event in October, which will bring industry voices together to explore emerging challenges and opportunities.
We look forward to seeing how Electronics Weekly will continue to innovate and inform in its new format.
Human vs AI-Generated Content: Why the Difference Still Matters in B2B Marketing
Almost every week, someone, somewhere asks a version of the same question:
“Is AI now good enough to replace human marketers?”
Let’s face it. AI is everywhere. It writes emails, outlines white papers, suggests headlines, and produces content at a speed that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
But while the technology has changed fast, the fundamentals of effective B2B marketing haven’t. And that’s why the difference between human- and AI-generated content still matters, perhaps more than ever.
So, to answer the question….
Yes, AI is good enough and genuinely useful… for some things
There’s no question that AI has earned its place in modern marketing teams.
That’s largely because AI is phenomenal at accelerating workflows. It can summarise complex documents in seconds, create a long report and present it in multiple formats, or generate a serviceable first draft when you’re floundering in search of a place to start. For stretched marketing and creative teams under constant pressure to produce more with fewer resources, an AI-supported boost matters a great deal.
AI is also generally very good at handling structure. Tables, comparisons, objectively neutral rewrites and other tone adjustments are all things AI can do quickly and consistently. Used well, it helps to reduce friction in the marketing process by taking care of the more tedious, mundane tasks, which frees humans to focus on higher‑value, and often more creative, work.
Where the AI cracks start to show
The problems begin when AI is asked to do more than process information.
In real-world B2B projects, AI-generated content often *sounds* confident while actually being quietly wrong. Facts are slightly off kilter. Claims are so broad they start feeling less believable. Bold statements feel plausible but don’t quite stand up to scrutiny, especially in specialist markets like engineering, electronics, or industrial technology.
And probably, most important, AI lacks judgement. You must remember that AI is only repeating what someone wrote about something, somewhere, one day. It did not rationally and objectively arrive at its reply to your query, but it can almost make you feel as though it did.
Importantly to marketers, AI doesn’t know which detail will trigger a buyer’s scepticism, which insight might be commercially sensitive, or which message simply won’t have enough runway to land with a technical audience. AI can’t read the room. It doesn’t understand internal politics, competitive nuance, or strategic intent.
And AI doesn’t originate insight. It simply recombines what already exists. It’s efficient, yes, but it’s certainly not original.
The growing credibility issue
One of the biggest risks we see emerging from irresponsible or inexperienced use of AI is damage to credibility.
Journalists and potential product customers are being inundated with near-identical blogs, articles, and white papers. The wording changes slightly, but the structure, arguments, and conclusions have a ring of familiarity, and not in a good way. You feel as though you are being told the same thing, just in a slightly different way, whether it’s for airline tickets or bedroom slippers. In some cases, it’s patently obvious that the company name has simply been dropped into an AI-generated template and set to “spin”.
In B2B, trust underpins long and complex buying cycles, so vague familiarity that leads to loss of credibility is dangerous. When content feels generic, the brands they represent feel generic, too. And once you lose credibility, you’ve just created a credibility deficit that’s very hard to recover.
All of this is to say that human-written content has something AI can’t replicate: experience, opinion, and accountability. It shows that someone has thought deeply about the problem, formulated an informed position, and is prepared to stand behind it. The only thing AI will stand behind is itself. It is designed for self-preservation.
This isn’t humans versus machines
The biggest mistake most business professionals make is framing this debate as an either-or choice. It’s not us vs them.
The most effective B2B marketing today comes from a combined approach. Humans provide direction, strategy, and judgement about what matters, what’s risky, and what’s worth saying. AI accelerates the execution, handles the initial research, lays the groundwork, and explores the options, all of which helps to diminish unnecessary and often repetitive effort to reach the designation. AI can virtually take 50 different roads in an instant and signpost which one is likely to be best suited for you to reach your marketing campaign destination. You, then, only have to take one journey (OK, maybe two).
What we’ve found in real-world experience and conversations with global peers, especially in recent years, is that the marketers who perform best are those who understand their market deeply and can use that knowledge to brief an AI model, challenge its output, and refine its wording. The value is no longer a case of cranking out words, it’s in crafting and shaping them.
And if we get that balance right, AI won’t replace marketers. It will make the good ones more valuable than ever.
Want to learn more about Humans Vs AI? Catch up on our on-demand webinar:
https://www.napierb2b.com/2026/01/human-vs-ai-machine/
Why Account Based Marketing Works: A Strategic Path to B2B Growth
Account‑based marketing (ABM) has rapidly evolved from a niche tactic into one of the most effective strategies in modern B2B marketing. Insights gained from a Napier podcast featuring Anna Tsymbalist, the Head of ABM at Influ2, an ABM platform, theorise that ABM’s power lies in its ability to focus, personalise, and align teams around the accounts that matter most. Rather than casting a wide net and hoping for the best, ABM treats individual accounts as their own markets, an approach that has been shown to consistently deliver deeper engagement and higher‑value conversions.
A Strategic Focus on High‑Value Accounts
Unlike broad‑based marketing, the cornerstone of ABM effectiveness is founded on a deep, root and branch understanding of specific target accounts, i.e., their decision‑makers, business or operational challenges, goals, and buying behaviours. The shift from generalised outreach to high precision targeting is what enables marketers to create campaigns that resonate on a highly individual level.
Having exhausted traditional lead‑generation methods, Tsymbolist says that a shift to highly targeted ABM programs revealed opportunities that traditional generic outreach could never identify. Clarity enables organisations to prioritise the accounts most likely to convert, ensuring marketing efforts are more likely to deliver meaningful business outcomes rather than throwing money at no-hopers.
Precision Targeting Reaches the Right People
ABM thrives on precision engagement right at the contact level. Tools like Influ2 have led the way in hyper‑targeted advertising, enabling marketers to reach specific people within an account, not just the company broadly. This level of granularity has two major advantages:
- Higher relevance: Messages cut through the noise and home in on the exact individuals involved in purchase decisions.
- More visibility: Marketers gain contact‑level insights into impressions, clicks, engagement, and intent.
In many cases, contact‑level accuracy can achieve up to 98%, dramatically reducing wasted spend and increasing the likelihood that tailored content truly lands with the intended audience.
Interestingly, this level of precision also makes ABM more adaptive. As a prospect interacts with the content, the messaging can often be adjusted in real time to ensure relevance the moment needs are perceived to shift.
Syncing Sales and Marketing
ABM effectiveness also requires much tighter integration between sales and marketing teams. That’s because ABM necessitates shared ownership of strategy, messaging, and outreach.
This alignment helps both teams:
- Agree on what qualifies as a high‑priority or “hot” lead
- Accurately interpret data
- Avoid miscommunication and duplicated effort
- Create a smoother and more consistent buying experience
When sales and marketing operate in lockstep, accounts migrate more efficiently through the funnel, and conversion rates often soar.
Technology That Amplifies Impact
We have focused so far to a large degree on the human element of ABM, but modern ABM would not be possible without technology. The ability to heighten targeting accuracy, deliver engagement insights that matter, and streamline campaign execution replaces wasteful and often-frustrating guesswork with data‑driven decision‑making.
Technology also supports continuous optimisation. ABM requires continuous refinement based on account feedback. With the right tools, marketers can test, learn, recalibrate, and execute quickly.
A Human‑Centric Approach
Despite ABM’s sophistication, its effectiveness is directly linked to a simple truth: “people are human”. Whether marketing to consumers or businesses, it is individuals with a brain, heart, and soul who respond to clarity, relevance, and empathy. Simplified messaging, slicing through jargon, and communicating human value in human terms builds trust and fosters connection, all of which are central drivers of ABM success.
ABM Works Because It Matters
Account‑Based Marketing works because it aligns focus, precision, personalisation, and team collaboration around the accounts that matter most. By understanding target accounts inside and out, tailoring messaging to their specific needs, and leveraging technology to reach the right people at the right time, ABM has been proven to deliver measurable, sustainable growth. For any business navigating the complexities of the B2B landscape, ABM isn’t merely another strategy to consider, it is now a strategic imperative.
Using Google Ads to Generate Qualified Leads for Electronic Component Suppliers
For many electronic component suppliers, Google Ads can feel like a double‑edged sword. On one hand, it promises visibility in front of design engineers and procurement teams at electronics OEMs who are actively searching for parts and solutions. On the other, it often delivers a flood of enquiries from students, hobbyists, or organisations that sales teams ignore because they were never a target market to begin with.
B2B marketers such as those at Napier who work in technical and industrial markets have seen this pattern play out many times. The issue isn’t that Google Ads “doesn’t work” for electronic component suppliers, it’s that it’s frequently conceived and deployed with the wrong strategy: chasing traffic rather than capturing technical buying intent. Google Ads can be a powerful driver of qualified leads, but only if the message, campaign, and measurement are clearly aligned to the way engineers at OEMs research, shortlist, and specify components.
Why Google Ads Can Struggle for Electronic Component Suppliers
Marketing electronic components is different from e‑commerce or SaaS. Buying cycles can be lengthy, specification decisions often involve multiple stakeholders, and products can be confusing to non‑specialists. Yet many Google Ads campaigns in this space are still set up using generic lead‑generation playbooks.
The biggest problem for Google Ads in component marketing is keyword strategy. Broad, high‑volume keywords might make a report look good, but they often capture research‑driven searches rather than genuine design‑in or sourcing intent. A common mistake is bidding on “how‑to” and general learning terms that attract students and hobbyists rather than design engineers looking for a supplier for a real project.
Another issue is a lack of filtering. If you don’t take the time to build and maintain a robust negative keyword list, coupled with audience exclusions, your campaign will pay for clicks that were never going to result in revenue. The marketing department will celebrate the number of leads, but sales will grumble that most of those “leads” are irrelevant and waste time and budget.
It is also important to point out that conversion strategy is often misaligned. Optimising a campaign for form fills, downloads, or generic enquiries might boost the raw number of MQLs but bear little resemblance to what creates genuine buying conversations for component suppliers. Sales teams don’t close deals from whitepaper downloads alone. They close them when an engineer needs a part recommendation, a sample, pricing and availability, or support to qualify a component for a design.
What High‑Performing Campaigns Do Differently
Napier’s Digital Team has consistently seen that successful Google Ads campaigns are based on intent, not volume. For example, an engineer researching a specific specification, package type, certification, or reference design is very different from someone searching for general tutorials. It’s therefore important that ads, keywords, and landing pages reflect the language design engineers at electronics OEMs use when selecting and qualifying components.
Filtering is equally important. Negative keyword management keeps campaigns focused and prevents wasting money on irrelevant search results. Over time, careful keyword management alone can dramatically improve lead quality.
Conversion actions also matter. High‑performing campaigns prioritise actions that signal real commercial intent, such as “Request a Quote”, “Check Stock / Request Pricing”, “Request Samples”, or “Speak to an Applications Engineer” for help selecting the right part.
Most importantly, performance must be measured in a way that reflects reality. Cost per click and cost per lead are useful diagnostic tools, but they don’t tell the whole story. Mature B2B campaigns must focus on producing sales‑qualified leads, RFQ volume, and pipeline contribution. These are the metrics the sales team really cares about.
Can a Google Ads Agency Help?
An agency that specialises in Google Ads can absolutely help increase qualified leads for an electronic component supplier, but only if it understands technical B2B markets. The right partner doesn’t just manage bids and budgets; it invests considerable time in gaining a deep understanding of its clients’ products, applications, and the way design engineers at OEMs evaluate and select components.
When evaluating an agency, look beyond promises of cheaper clicks or more leads. Ask how they differentiate engineer searches from student or hobbyist searches. Ask how they define a “qualified lead” for a component supplier (for example, an OEM engineer requesting samples or pricing, or asking an applications question) and whether that definition matches what your sales team says it needs.
Final Thoughts
At Napier, the measure of success for a Google Ads campaign isn’t about generating more traffic, it’s about attracting the right traffic: design engineers and relevant buyers at the right electronics OEMs, at the right time. When the strategy is built around technical intent and sales alignment, Google Ads can shift from being a source of friction and frustration to a reliable contributor to real sales growth for electronic component suppliers.
Celebrating 20 Years of Bodo’s Power Systems
This June marks a remarkable milestone as, during PCIM 2026 in Nuremberg, Bodo’s Power Systems will celebrate two decades of publishing.
Since its debut in 2006, covered by Napier at the time, Bodo’s has flourished as a trusted voice in power electronics. For 20 years, the Bodo team have approached each issue with passion, clarity, and a deep commitment to advancing the industry.
Reflecting on this journey, Holger said, “For two decades, this family-run magazine has accompanied the industry with passion, delivering high-quality, engineering-level content month after month”.
Visitors to PCIM are invited to meet Founder Bodo in Hall 4 to reflect on two decades of progress and look ahead at what is still to come. For those who wish to, there is still an opportunity to be part of Bodo Power Systems’ June issue, which will be distributed on-site at the show.
Caroline Hayes Steps into New Role as Group Editor
Napier is delighted to congratulate Caroline Hayes on her appointment as Group Editor of AV Magazine and Electronics Weekly.
Caroline was appointed following the departure of Clive Couldwell, who led both titles with distinction for many years and is now taking a well-earned break.
Caroline Hayes said: “I can’t wait to join AV Magazine. Having worked with Clive Couldwell I am so excited about the possibilities in the sector, and working with the team to develop this elite media brand. I look forward to meeting everyone over the next few months.”
Caroline’s passion for the industry makes her an exceptional choice for guiding two of the industry’s most respected publications, and we look forward to working with her in her new role.
embedded world 2026 Welcomed 36,000 Visitors
In early March senior Napier staff and management descended on Nuremberg to support its many clients attending the annual embedded world, which showcases the future of embedded technologies.
This year’s embedded world was deemed by organizers as the most successful ever, with around 36,000 visitors from nearly 90 countries, a 13 percent year-on-year increase. In fact, the show was so successful that organizers have now set their sights on adding a fourth location. embedded world India, in November 2026.
embedded world Executive Director Benedikt Weyerer highlighted the vibrant atmosphere, filled with innovation, discussion and global engagement. The conference programme showcased a broad range of technical topics, with Chairman Prof. Dr.-Ing. Axel Sikora emphasising the depth of scientific insight and collaboration between research and industry that has been prevalent at embedded world, now planning it’s 25th show in Nuremberg from 16th-18th March 2027.
With several Napier team members on the ground throughout the show, it was clear to see how busy each day was, with many clients stating how the quality of conversations with leads had improved since last year. News of the show expanding was also discussed, with a new layout set to welcome even more exhibitors next year. We look forward to hearing all the feedback from the show, and the plans for 2027.
Future Horizons: March Semiconductor Update
Before diving into this latest market insight from Future Horizons, we wanted to share news of Future Horizons' Spring Industry Update Webinar. Taking place on 5th May 2026 at 3pm (UK BST), the webinar will explore the outlook for 2026, covering AI-driven risks, and key supply and demand trends shaping the semiconductor industry. Register here to find out more: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1717736719537/WN_c8KlOlIATv-rlwUzZpdPoA
Executive Summary
January’s WSTS Report saw a further $4.0 billion upward revision to last month’s reported numbers, bringing the total up to US$795 billion, up 26.1 percent vs. 2025. This 0.6 percent annualised increase was solely attributable to ICs, up 39.9 percent year-on-year, more specifically to Memory, up 29.9 percent, and Logic, up 38.8 percent, all in turn driven by the red-hot AI-datacenter explosion.
In sharp contrast, Analog and Micro were up just 8.7 and 7.9 percent respectively, with Opto and Discretes even lower at 4.7 percent and 3.2 percent.
Whilst IC value-growth was eye-watering, unit growth was only single digit, re-enforcing the fact 2025’s growth was ASP, not demand, driven.
At this stage in the cycle, as we enter 2026, we would all be well-advised to remember the two golden rules of semiconductor ASPs. First, Moore’s second law, “The long-term IC ASP value is a dollar” and second, the historical industry observation, “The long-term IC ASP growth is zero.” Unless, or course, “It’s different this time!”
Market Outlook
Q3 and Q4’s strong double-digit growth rates were some of the strongest on record, lifting the full-year growth to 26.1 percent, bringing the total market value to just shy of US$ 800 billion. And with no sign yet of this growth momentum slowing, we can expect to see humdinger first quarter as well.
With still no sign yet of any slowdown in this growth, a strong first quarter would blow our plus 12 percent forecast, with an upside of 18 percent, clear out of the water, with an upside now north of 40 percent, potentially adding around US$300 billion to 2025’s blockbuster chip sales.
But … if the AI market tanks, overnight the current inexhaustible end-market demand for AI-hyperscaler investment would plummet, triggering a collapse in high-performance processor and HBM sales, ricocheting into other support products, from power discretes to microcontrollers and analog, with the rest of the chip market overwhelmed by the tsunami, unable to push back against the collateral damage and fallout.
On the global economic front, the world outlook is currently being stress-tested by a convergence of shocks, namely: the Middle East war; the emergence of AI as a disruptive technology; soured loans starting to pop up in the booming private-credit industry; a softening US job market; and stubbornly high inflation.
Each shock alone might be manageable, but together they are creating fragilities in global markets that no single policy lever can fix, making it different and more difficult than the rout sparked Donald Trump’s 2025 tariff rollout.
Do not expect the economy to provide a strong foundation for 2026 chip market growth.
There is no upside to the current economic outlook, other than hope that the multiple downside risks do not materialise.
A downturn and correction in chip market growth is inevitable, only the trigger and timing uncertain. If the trigger is a correction in AI demand, the downturn will happen in 2026. If that demand stays strong throughout 2026, then the crash will come early in 2027, once the additional memory capacity comes on stream.
The only forecast certainty right now is “Everyone’s chip market forecast for 2026 is wrong!”
Our overall message for 2026 is clear; enjoy the party if you can but proceed with extreme caution and do not be distracted by 2025’s headline dollar growth. Growth is ASP not demand driven and that can reverse just a quickly as it came.
To paraphrase the wise words of SK-hynix Chairman Chey Tae-Won, "2026’s US$300 billion sales growth could just as easily turn into a US$300 billion decline."
If these insights highlight just how uncertain and fast-moving the market has become, don’t miss the Spring Industry Update Webinar on May 5, 2026 at 3pm (UK BST). Where FutureHorizons break down the latest data, explore whether the market has truly turned a corner, and examine the risks and opportunities that will define 2026 and beyond. Register now to stay ahead: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1717736719537/WN_c8KlOlIATv-rlwUzZpdPoA