The Competitive Status of the U.S. Electronics Industry.

This eight-chapter report is one of seven industry-specific studies conducted to identify global shifts of industrial technological capacity on a sector-by-sector basis, to relate those shifts in international competitive industrial advantage to technological and other factors, and to assess future prospects for further technological change and industrial development. The methodology of the studies included a series of panel meetings involving discussions between experts, resource personnel, and government agency and congressional representatives. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 examine, respectively, the challenge to United States' leadership in electronics, financial and human resource constraints, and barriers to international trade. Chapters 3 to 7 focus respectively on: the semiconductor industry (considering its size, structure, and international position, the semiconductor manufacturing process, and bases for competition); the computer industry (considering its size, structure, and international position, its changing economics, and bases for competition); the telecommunications industry (considering its size, structure, and international position, developments in transmission technology, and bases for competition); and the consumer electronics industry (examining its size and international position and the factors of Japanese success in the industry). Chapter 8 considers research, capital formation, human resource, and international trade policy options for the U.S. electronics industry. (JN)