Semi distribution market ‘on right track’

The latest figures from DMASS (Distributors' and Manufacturers' Association of Semiconductor Specialists) show the industry is on track to reach total sales of €5.8bn this year, which would make it one of the highest on record. "The summer quarter held up nicely," noted DMASS chairman Georg Steinberger. "Bookings within the membership and in the industry seemed quite strong. Our optimism that 2013 will end positive was obviously justified." Regionally, DMASS says the UK and central Europe (Germany, Benelux, Switzerland) remained the weak spots. UK sales were down a whopping 7.8% to €119m, while Germany saw a decrease of 2% to €463m. Sales in Italy, on the other hand, grew to €132m (+13.4%), France to €110m (+14.7%) and Eastern Europe to €160m (+11.5%). The sluggish conditions in Central Europe and specifically Germany remain a concern, as it is not clear whether they indicate structural changes, like a loss of production to other regions," said Steinberger. "Although the German economy defies the signs of crisis Europe wide, it is certainly very anti cyclical." Product-wise, most key areas grew except programmable logic and memory. Programmable logic declined by 8.3% to €122m, which puts the year to date drop at -11%. Power management and consequently total analogue grew by 5% to €138m and 2.5% to €412m respectively. Sensors, mcus, power and opto grew between 8.9% and 6.4%, while other logic (assps, asics) grew disproportionally (15.6%). Memory experienced a further decline of 14.6%. Steinberger concluded: "The message from distribution to the market seems clear: continued pressure on standard products like memory and low cost devices and interesting growth opportunities in design intensive product segments that require technical support and application expertise."