The figures have previously been distorted by exchange rate effects between the Dollar and the Euro, but these are said to have diminished. However, DMASS estimates that 60% of the increase in sales in 2015 was due to the exchange rate swing, meaning there was between 6% and 7% organic growth.
DMASS chairman Georg Steinberger noted: “We enjoyed record business in distribution in 2015 – at least from a sales perspective. What is different to previous years is that no shortages accompanied this double digit growth.”
However, Steinberger noted that, unless exchange rates ‘run riot again’, all signs point towards a more solemn business environment in 2016.
On an annual basis, sales in Germany grew 9.5% to €2.2bn. Italy saw a 12.3% increase to €667m and sales in the UK rose by 12.8% to €605m.
Analogue components remained the strongest product group, with a 15.8% increase in sales to €2.13bn, followed by MOS Micro, 13.5% higher at €1.51bn, opto, up 15.4% at €750m, and power, 6.6% higher at €684m.
Steinberger added: “Very few standard products really made a mark in 2015 in terms of sales growth. The difference mostly came from design products like complex logic, analogue or high end microcontrollers. For the first time ever, 32bit MCUs beat 8bit parts on an annual basis and this trend will continue with the advent of the IoTand Industry 4.0.”
