European Semiconductor Distribution (DMASS) Enjoys All-Time Record Quarter

European semiconductor distribution grows by 33.5% in Q1/2011. Regional and product split varies significantly. 

London, May 20, 2011 – Although the overall growth of the European semiconductor market is “slowing down” in relative terms, semiconductor distribution enjoyed another record quarter. DMASS (Distributors’ and Manufacturers’ Association of Semiconductor Specialists), in fact, recorded its all-time high quarter since the creation over 20 years ago. In Q1/2011 sales of DMASS members grew by 33.5% to 1.81 Billion Euro compared to Q1/2010.

Georg Steinberger, permanent chairman of DMASS, commented on the development: “After the sequential slowdown in Q4/2010, the fear was that the 2011 market would become a very sobering affair for the industry. With a growth of 33.5% for Q1 and order books being relatively thick, it is hard to believe in any really bad surprise for the remainder of the year. Any soft landing will happen at the highest level our industry ever achieved. I believe that distribution will outgrow the total market again in 2011.”

The regional picture in Q1/2011 again confirmed the trend from the West to the East: Eastern Europe grew by 59% to 239 Million Euro, with the Baltic States, Hungary and Russia leading the pack in terms of growth rates. Denmark, Finland and Germany are the only West European states that have grown over-proportionally. Of the Big 4 regions, Germany grew fastest (39.5% to 640 Million Euro. Italy grew 29% to 200 Million Euro, the UK by 26.2% to 144 Million Euro and France by 16.7% to 130 Million Euro. With very few exceptions, all other regions / countries grew double-digit but below average.

Georg Steinberger: “No real surprise can be seen in the regional development except the much slower pace of recovery in UK, France and Italy, who have finally reached again their record Q1/2007 results. More amazing from a ranking perspective is probably the list of countries following the big regions: Sweden, Benelux, Switzerland, Iberia and Russia. I would not be surprised to see Russia as a clear number 5 within the next 2 years.”

From a product perspective, the areas growing above average were Power (+42.8%), Sensors (43.5%), Standard Analog (41.2%), MPUs (45.1%) and Other Logic (40.3%). Unusually weak were LEDs, Optoelectronics in general, Memories and Discrete components. For scale comparison, Analog and MOS Micro together represent ~50% of the quarterly DMASS Total.

Georg Steinberger concludes: “On the technologies, it was probably worth noticing that the end market lighting boom does not really show up in the distribution numbers. However, from a very positive side, Power and Analog play an increasingly important role. And finally, High-end MCU architectures, MPUs and also DSPs finally close the gap to 8- and 16-bit Micros, another sign how well suited the distribution channel is for design-intensive products.” 

About DMASS
DMASS (Distributors’ and Manufacturers’ Association of Semiconductor Specialists), a European non-profit organisation, is the only industry body that collates detailed semiconductor distribution market data on a quarterly basis by country and product groups such as microcontrollers, flash memories, analog components and many more. DMASS figures are collected and consolidated by Data Dynamics Ltd.

DMASS, founded in 1989, provides its members with a reliable statistical tool to evaluate their relative mass-market performance. The organisation currently consists of 36 active members and represents between 80% and 85% of the total European distribution market, depending on the regions. To continuously increase its European market coverage, DMASS welcomes new membership applications from distributors and semiconductor manufacturers.