THE COMPONENT SIGNAL

Issue #007 · Monday, February 24, 2026 · Fab Watch + Connectors + EMC Costs

Connectors — quietly getting worse. TE Connectivity and Amphenol both extended lead times on high-density board-to-board connectors by 4–6 weeks in February. Automotive-grade connectors (AEC-Q200) now at 20–30 weeks. The driver isn't raw material — it's plating capacity. Gold and palladium plating lines are running at 90%+ utilization across multiple contract manufacturers. If you haven't placed your connector orders for Q3 production, you're competing for the last slots.

TSMC Arizona Fab 1 — yields hit 98%. TSMC confirmed Fab 21 in Phoenix is matching Taiwan yields on N4 process. This is significant: it means US-fabbed chips will cost roughly the same as Taiwan-origin parts — removing the yield penalty that skeptics predicted. For BOM planners, this changes the reshoring calculus. US-origin silicon becomes viable without a cost premium. The EMI signatures of these chips will be identical to Taiwan-fabbed equivalents. Source: TSMC Q4 2025 earnings call

Tantalum capacitors — stable but watch conflict mineral rules. EU's Conflict Minerals Regulation (Regulation 2017/821) enforcement is tightening. Importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold must now demonstrate full smelter-level traceability. If your tantalum caps come from unaudited smelters, you may face import delays at EU borders starting Q2.

Most teams budget for EMC testing but not for failure. Here's what a first-pass failure actually costs — numbers from three projects we saw in the last 12 months:

The pattern: In all three cases, the fix was a shielding change — not a board redesign. Two needed compartmentalized shields (internal dividers). One needed a taller shield can to clear a heatsink that was acting as a secondary radiator.

Total cost of the shield fix: $0.30–$0.85 per unit. Total cost of the board respins they did first: $35K–$70K.

The math is consistent: shielding is the cheapest variable in the EMC equation, but it's usually the last one teams look at. We see this pattern every month — the shield redesign that eventually fixes the problem could have been done before the first test if anyone had asked.

• • SK hynix HBM4 yield reportedly exceeds 70%. This is ahead of schedule and ahead of Samsung's estimated 55–60% yield on their HBM4 process. In memory, yield is market share. SK hynix is pulling away on HBM — which means their Icheon and Cheongju fabs are consuming more packaging materials, more test capacity, and more EMI shielding at the module level. Source: Business Korea

If you're heading into EMC testing in the next 60 days, get a shielding review done before you book the chamber. A 15-minute layout check can prevent a $35K retest cycle. We do these for free — send a board photo or layout file.