NAICS
334: Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
Industries in the Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
subsector group establishments that manufacture computers, computer
peripherals, communications equipment, and similar electronic products,
and establishments that manufacture components for such products. The
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing industries have been
combined in the hierarchy of NAICS because of the economic significance
they have attained. Their rapid growth suggests that they will become
even more important to the economies of all three North American
countries in the future, and in addition their manufacturing processes
are fundamentally different from the manufacturing processes of other
machinery and equipment. The design and use of integrated circuits and
the application of highly specialized miniaturization technologies are
common elements in the production technologies of the computer and
electronic subsector. Convergence of technology motivates this NAICS
subsector. Digitalization of sound recording, for example, causes both
the medium (the compact disc) and the equipment to resemble the
technologies for recording, storing, transmitting, and manipulating
data. Communications technology and equipment have been converging with
computer technology. When technologically-related components are in the
same sector, it makes it easier to adjust the classification for future
changes, without needing to redefine its basic structure. The creation
of the Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing subsector will
assist in delineating new and emerging industries because the
activities that will serve as the probable sources of new industries,
such as computer manufacturing and communications equipment
manufacturing, or computers and audio equipment are brought together.
As new activities emerge, they are less likely therefore, to cross the
subsector boundaries of the classification.