2010 set to be a record year for European distribution sales

According to DMASS, the Distributors' and Manufacturers' Association of Semiconductor Specialists, Q3 of 2010 saw sales grow by 63.8% over Q3 of 2009 to €1.56billion, an absolute record in DMASS history. Sales through DMASS members in the UK increased by 56% to €138million. Georg Steinberger, pictured, DMASS' chairman, said: "We are looking at a year of nearly 50% growth, which will more than compensate for the downturn of 2008/2009 and exceed DMASS' record sales of DMASS in 2007. From a booking perspective, the situation seems to have returned to normal, but at an exceptionally high level. Availability has also improved slightly. The big question is what is going to happen after such a rollercoaster cycle." From a product perspective, demand for IGBTs grew fastest with 111%, followed by other memories (102%), converters (88%), mosfets (85%), microprocessors (83%), analog interface (79%) and programmable logic (78%). Steinberger said the 'over proportional' growth in analogue, programmable logic and power shows that distribution has turned into a design driven business. "Two quarters with growth of more than 60% have set a target for measuring regional performance and all indicators suggest that, in 2010, the total market available to distributors will grow faster than the total semiconductor market in Europe."