European Semiconductor Distribution (DMASS) in unprecedented growth mode

EMEA semiconductor distribution grows by a historical 70% in Q2/2010. Record bookings and selective shortages continue.   

London, August 6, 2010 – 2010 looks like the all-time record year for European semiconductor distribution. According to DMASS (Distributors’ and Manufacturers’ Association of Semiconductor Specialists), the first half 2010 grew by over 50% as compared the same period last year. Q2/2010 even grew by a historic 70% over Q2/2009, the highest growth ever measured since the foundation of DMASS over 20 years ago. The last quarter ended with 1.5 Billion Euro of sales.

Georg Steinberger, Chairman of DMASS, summarised: “This is the craziest cycle I can remember. Distribution is back at record levels of 2007 and probably will outgrow the rest of the market by far this year. The downside of this huge oscillation is that it leaves customers with many unfulfilled orders as the capacity increases at the manufacturing side are not coming fast enough to align with the huge demand increase. Bookings are still at record levels and the customer inventories are more or less empty.”

From a regional point of view, the record growth in Q2/2010 is enjoyed by all regions, although the growth rates vary quite dramatically. Compared to last year, Eastern Europe grew by a staggering 110% to 182 Million Euro. Germany grew by 71.9% to 498 Million Euro and Italy by 67.6% to 166 Million Euro. The UK ended up with 128 Million Euro (+55.5%), France with 118 Million (51%).  Apart from Austria (88.3%) and Switzerland (73.6%), all other Western European Economies grew “under-proportionally”. The Nordic region, for example, grew by 64.2% to 130 Million Euro.

Georg Steinberger: “To speak of under-proportional when almost everyone ended with a plus of over 50%, is almost blasphemy. Never has European distribution across all regions experienced such a dynamic turnaround. What is apparent is that Eastern Europe takes the lion’s share of the growth and Germany holds out on a very high market position. I wouldn’t be surprised this year to see the DTAM, the market served by distribution, outperform the direct market in all regions.”

Product-wise, Programmable Logic (95%), Power (84.5%), Sensors (84.1%), DSPs (77.1%) and Standard Analog (72.2%) all grew above average; all other areas remained slightly below. The component areas with the single highest growth were IGBTs (118.9%) and DRAMs (108.8%)

Georg Steinberger: “This is a recovery beyond all hopes and across all sectors. It shows that distribution is not just strong in commodities but across the entire printed circuit board. We just hope that the market is not contaminated by many double bookings.”

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.