Mmm, not great tidings on the eve of electronica. DMASS (Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Semiconductor Suppliers) reports a decline in European revenues of 8.3% in the third quarter of 2008 against last year.
Total revenues of the manufacturer and distributor members of DMASS were 1.22bn Euro. Says Luciano Sandrini, the newly installed chairman of DMASS, "While ourhopes were high that the design cycle of our business would ease out over 2008, the third quarter proved us wrong. The unexpected happened - the world financial crisis took control over many markets, including electronics. Lack of customer confidence in future business is putting a brake on bookings and billings right now and could lead to further declines. As this is a global problem and not a European one, we expect the highly specialised European electronics industry to concentrate on their strengths and come out of this downturn more competitive."
Brave words when the only region to show up in the third quarter was Eastern Europe which grew 4.3%, a performance driven by good results from Poland and the emerging markets which posted double digit growth. Germany and the Nordic countries kept the damage down to a 4.7% decline. For the rest it is a tale of woe. Benelux down 22.8%, Italy down 17.6%, UK down 15.8%, Iberia down 12.5% and France off 11.5%. The UK can cite currency weakness as a mitigating factor, but folks it ain't looking great.
I'm at electronica all week and I'll see if we can get some prognostications when things might pick up. A word of advice - don't hold your breath.
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