European semiconductor sales ‘through the roof’
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Bookings and billings in the European semiconductor distribution sector 'went through the roof' in the first quarter of 2010, according to DMASS, the Distributors' and Manufacturers' Association of Semiconductor Specialists. Noting sales in Q1 reached €1.345billion, 33.2% higher than in the same quarter in 2009, DMASS says the growth trend is continuing in Q2. DMASS reports sales of all industrial semiconductors, except for those intended for the pc market.
DMASS chairman Georg Steinberger said: "In 25 years in the industry, I have never seen the components distribution market rebound from crash to cash in five quarters. The sector is back at its 2008 levels and not far away from the record year in 2007. With all the bookings – 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."
Demand from UK customers grew by 25.2% to €112m, while all product areas monitored by DMASS showed significant growth, including a 60% jump in demand for sensors and a 31% increase in programmable logic orders. While power sales overtook optoelectronics for the first time ever, the strongest growing sectors were igbts, drams and flash memories.
Steinberger noted: "The slight weakness in demand for mpus and low end mcus is almost compensated by demand for high end mcus and dsps. In other words, customers are concentrating on higher value projects."
