Electronics and High-Tech Industry Solutions

Overcome the challenges of this highly competitive industry with effective management of product data that makes it easier to collaborate with partners and suppliers, drive internal alignment, and improve product quality.

What is high tech?


High tech encompasses the latest and greatest of technology that uses or incorporates the most advanced machines, methods, and software. It can describe a variety of products and applications across multiple industries, such as consumer electronics, automation, semiconductors, automotive, even large-scale infrastructure.

High tech (short for high technology) is always evolving. Continued innovation and improvement is essential to remain competitive.

How is the high-tech industry evolving?

The high-tech industry includes businesses focused on rapid innovation. Traditional high-tech sectors include electronics, software, computers, and related IT, but increasingly many products, like automotives, medical devices, aerospace, are differentiated by their software, artificial intelligence, and other high-tech components.

With more demand for electronics and high-tech products, companies can be challenged to deliver quality at speed, dynamic supply chains, data management, and internal and external collaboration.

Data below from Accenture’s Pulse of Change 2025.

Level of change

Of high-tech executives believe there will be an accelerated level of change in 2025

Focus on gen AI

Of high-tech executives plan to focus on creating new AI-powered products

Prepared for change?

Of high-tech C-suite execs don’t feel they’re fully prepared for environmental and geopolitical change in 2025

Five major sectors of the electronics and high-tech industry

What’s known as the electronics and high-tech industry is a combination of several major sectors that include the manufacturing of advanced technologies, products, and components.

Computers and consumer electronics

Probably the most well-known and visible sector of the electronics and high-tech industry, consumer electronics are products we use every day in our modern lives from laptops to smartphones to printers to digital cameras. At over 58 percent, smartphones capture the largest revenue share.

Semiconductor industry

Semiconductors are critical components of the modern technologies we have today: computers, smartphones, servers, televisions, cars, and more. Producing a wide variety of chips—microprocessors, memory chips, graphics processing units, application integrated circuits, and microcontrollers. They have unique challenges like increasing demand combined with competition, high-volume contracts, and global supply chains.

Automation and controls

Companies in the automation and controls sector produce control systems, operator interfaces, data acquisition and monitoring systems, motion control components, and sensors and actuators. With the ongoing adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, supervisory control and data question is set to see the most growth in the coming years.

Equipment and infrastructure

Long-life engineered structures and equipment provide the backbone of our communities. The companies in this sector design, manufacture, and maintain the equipment to help operate public utilities (power, gas, telecommunications, water supply and treatment), public works (roads and dams), and transportation (railroads, ports, waterways).

Electronics manufacturing services

This sector encompasses companies that design, manufacture, assemble, test, and distribute electronic components and assemblies. They often work on contracts and are part of other electronic and high-tech companies’ supply chain.

Electronics and high-tech companies face unique challenges

The electronics and high-tech industries are growing rapidly and include some of the highest growth products in the world.

With the right strategy and solutions, electronics and high-tech companies can accelerate innovation, increase efficiency, and remain agile in a global marketplace.

Managing complex and global supply chains

While the products may look different—semiconductors, automation controls, or consumer electronics—managing a complex product development process, high competition, and navigating dynamic supply chains are common challenges.

Creating a product development process with flexibility from design to sourcing to manufacturing is essential. Providing appropriate visibility into accurate product data to other departments, suppliers, and partners is key to getting ahead of supply chain challenges.

Siloed product data and collaboration

High-tech companies are often plagued by internal challenges, like siloed product data in multiple systems, which make it difficult to have accurate information at the ready and collaborate effectively across groups and external vendors.

Having a single source of truth for product data can help ease collaboration friction. With relevant teams working on the same information, they can make better decisions in their role.

Accelerating time-to-market for electronics and high-tech products

A crowded playing field and consumer demand for the latest high-tech products necessitates a continued effort to reduce time to market and accelerate innovation.

Establishing efficient processes with an authoritative source of truth helps to optimize collaboration, reduce rework, and enhance product quality. The end goal is to bring new products and new variations of products to the market faster.

Ensuring regulatory compliance

Many electronic and high-tech products end up in regulated products, like cars and medical devices. For regulatory compliance, many of these products need their suppliers to provide details on materials and sourcing, as well as engineering practices for software and hardware. Companies need to find ways to capture the data needed for compliance as part of the product development process.

Focus on more sustainable products and processes

With new regulations, especially in Europe, high-tech companies need to provide greater visibility into their entire product lifecycle. From reducing product footprints to producing a digital product passport, high-tech companies are challenged to provide a deeper level of traceability than ever before.

Strategic objectives and business goals

Manage product complexity

Overcome product complexity with solutions for managing configurations and product variants, software and hardware requirements, technical documentation, and more.

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Reduce costs

Digital transformation minimizes costs and risk across the product lifecycle by enabling companies to manage product complexity, streamline processes, and break down data silos.

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Drive growth and innovation

Increasing innovation productivity allows companies to differentiate themselves from competitors. By solving problems related to innovation, companies can bring new and improved products to market faster, enhancing their competitive edge.

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Optimize supply chain

By optimizing supply chains and creating global production networks, companies can better adapt to geopolitical, economic, and regulatory changes. This resilience helps them navigate uncertainties and maintain business continuity.

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Speed to market

In a fiercely competitive market, retaining customers is vital. Through speed and differentiation, companies can build stronger customer loyalty and reduce the risk of losing customers to competitors.

Improve product quality

Addressing issues related to product quality and performance ensures that customers receive high-quality products that meet their expectations. This leads to higher customer satisfaction, positive reviews, and increased market share.

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Digital transformation in the electronics and high-tech industry

Smart, connected products are reshaping the industry

Connected products are no longer an innovation, they are a necessary attribute to most modern products. Semiconductors, chips, and sensors are integral to driving innovation in today’s consumer products, factory automation, and more.

The role of AI, IoT, and software-driven innovation in modern high-tech manufacturing

The vast majority (86%) of C-suite executives feel prepared to up their investment in gen AI in 2025. The top three reasons are to capitalize on advances in the technology (28%), to maintain our competitiveness (20%), and increased confidence in managing associated business risks (20%).

Investment in digital transformation, especially getting your product data in order, is critical to be able to get the most out of generative AI use cases.

Digital continuity from design to service

Digital continuity, often called digital thread, is the interconnected flow of relevant data that defines a product throughout its lifecycle. Often anchored with a PLM solution, the digital thread provides a comprehensive view of a product’s journey from design to manufacturing to service to retirement.

With a digital thread, organizations are able to break down silos, create efficient workflows, and improve collaboration across departments, functions, and systems. As one of the most effective strategies for digital transformation, digital thread can enable organizations to get more value from one of their most precious resources—product data.

PTC’s solutions are enabling leading electronic and high-tech companies to get ahead of the competition.

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iRobot takes part-centric approach to product development

Using Windchill PLM, iRobot has tackled component shortages, introduced new variants, and driven efficient product development amid external uncertainty.

Watch the Video

HP optimizes processes and supply chain with PLM

HP’s large format printing division minimizes complexity and development costs with PLM.

Read the Case Study

ams OSRAM tames product complexity

ams OSRAM finds solutions to managing requirements, variants, and quality in a complex, fast-paced technology environment.

Read the Blog

Lenovo reduces time to market with PLM strategy

Lenovo needed a way to drive innovation, while enabling its globally dispersed teams to manage the increased complexity of product development.

See More

PTC’s technologies for the high-tech industry

Our software portfolio supports improved product data management, brings together hardware and software requirements, streamlines intricate design and development processes, and makes supply chain collaboration easier.

Product lifecycle management (PLM)

Provide a data foundation from engineering that orchestrates data to downstream departments and systems, so teams can work concurrently from a single source of accurate, real-time data.

Application lifecycle management (ALM)

Computer-aided design (CAD)

Product lifecycle management (PLM) Provide a data foundation from engineering that orchestrates data to downstream departments and systems, so teams can work concurrently from a single source of accurate, real-time data. Application lifecycle management (ALM) Deliver high-quality software by unifying requirements, risk, and test management using agile engineering capabilities. Computer-aided design (CAD) Create 3D digital models of products to define, share, review, simulate, and modify designs before they're manufactured.

Future of electronics and high tech

There is plenty to be excited about in the electronics and high-tech industry. These companies will continue to play a pivotal role in the continued innovation of many everyday products.

The future requires the adoption of emerging technologies, like generative AI, large language models, and automation tools to overcome internal and external challenges. Companies that are able to identify impactful use cases for these technologies will remain competitive.

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News and resources



PLM for digital supply chain optimization

See how PLM can enable a seamless flow of real-time, accurate information between engineering, manufacturing, sourcing, and supply chain partners.

/en/technologies/plm/digital-thread/plm-supply-chain

Transitioning from Oracle Agile

With Oracle Agile sunsetting in 2027, learn the essential steps and key considerations for transitioning to a modern PLM solution.

/en/blogs/plm/transitioning-from-oracle-agile-plm

Ensuring quality control in electronics manufacturing

Explore the importance of quality control in electronics manufacturing and understand the key methods used in the industry.

/en/blogs/plm/ensuring-quality-control-in-electronics-manufacturing

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