European Semi Distribution Sales Skyrocket

Well, all together now - "Happy Days are here again". That would seem to be the only conclusion to draw from the latest set of figures from DMASS (Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Semiconductor Specialists).

The steep decline and a total market drop of almost 24% in 2009 are but bad memories, so to speak. In the first quarter of 2010, bookings and billings in the European semiconductor distribution went through the roof, and the trend continues well into the second quarter. Q1/2010, according to DMASS (Distributors’ and Manufacturers’ Association of Semiconductor Specialists), ended at 1.345bn Euro, a growth of 33.2% compared to Q1/2009.

 

Georg Steinberger (pictured), chairman of DMASS, commented: “In 25 years in the industry I have never seen such a fast rebound of the components distribution market, from crash to cash in five quarters. We are back at 2008 levels and not far away from our record year 2007. With all the bookings our industry has collected at the moment, provided it is not all fog and mirrors, 2010 is set to become a record turnaround year for distribution. It cannot be all inventory correction, as previously suggested, there must be real growth.”

The regional perspective has remained the same as before the crisis. Eastern Europe grew by 58.5% to 150m Euro. Germany, by far the biggest market, grew by 35.4% to 457m Euro. Of the bigger Western European markets, Italy secured its number two spot behind Germany, with a growth of 33.4% to 155m Euro. The UK grew by 25.2% to 112m Euro, France by 21.4% to 111m Euro. The Nordic region grew under-proportionally by 21.9% to 114m, with Sweden dominating the regional picture. While Benelux, Austria and Switzerland all grew above average, Iberia trailed the trend with a growth of only 13.1%.

Commented Steinberger: “We are almost back to where we ended before the crisis, with Eastern Europe and Germany (and some smaller regions) driving the growth. The remaining weakness of France and the UK is apparent. Our hopes are that the dynamics are returning to the market in general and that distribution will continue to expand its position with the entire market scenario.”

From a product viewpoint, all areas grew double-digit, from 60% (Sensors) to only 13% (Other Logic). All major technologies grew above average, except Programmable Logic (31%) and MOS Micro (27%). Power overtook Optoelectronics for the first time ever in total sales. The single strongest growing products were IGBTs, DRAMs and Flash Memories.

Added Steinberger: “As the growth is happening in most sectors, we are confident that this is not a selective development. The slight weakness in MPUs and low-end MCUs is almost compensated by High-end-MCUs and DSPs. In other words, customers are concentrating on higher-value projects.”

Note: DMASS statistics measure semiconductors in the industrial sector. The numbers do not include the PC channel