European Semiconductor Distribution (DMASS) fights its Way out of Industry Slowdown

Second quarter declined by 14.7% over Q2/2011. Recovery remains slow. Eastern Europe further proves resilience.

London, August 14, 2012 – The European Semiconductor Market remains weak during 2012. Although coming in at a high level, sales in Q2 dropped further against a record 2011 quarter. DMASS (Distributors’ and Manufacturers’ Association of Semiconductor Specialists), reported a decline of consolidated sales of 14.7% to 1.46 Billion Euro. Sequentially, the gap to 2011 further narrowed.

Georg Steinberger, chairman of DMASS, commented on the results: “The first half of 2012 remains weak, relatively speaking, as records of the past do not count in a competitive environment. We are still facing a very quiet market today, with uncertainties around the overall economical situation in Europe. Although the second half will be inevitably better in relative terms, 2012 won’t be a growth year either, that much is clear. 2012 will end with a small minus, provided no macro-economical problems occur.”

From a regional view, the disappointment is with Western Europe and the growth fantasies are with Eastern Europe. Romania, Israel and Russia grew double-digit, the rest of Eastern Europe remained slightly positive. In Western Europe, France (-9.8%), UK (-10.3%), Benelux (-11.4%) and Iberia (-13.8%) reported a decline that was under-proportional, while Nordic (-18%), Germany (-21.9%) and Italy (-24.3%) dropped considerable more than average. Top Five countries in sales were Germany (472 Million Euro), Italy (139 Million Euro), UK (124 Million Euro), France (110 Million Euro) and Russia (65 Million Euro).

Georg Steinberger: “Has production transfer finally reached Germany and Italy with the same force as it did a few years ago UK and France? It remains to be seen. Italy is a special case with its higher focus on low cost manufacturing, white goods and low cost equipment. Germany however might just have seen a certain weakness after two overheated years.”

With the exception of a few product classes, every single category and sub-category of products was negative.  Least affected of all major product categories were Programmable Logic (-2.7%) and Other Logic (-8.1%). Everything else came in at either average (Analog), slightly below average (Power) or significantly above (MOS Micro). 

Georg Steinberger: “The weakness in MCUs certainly smells of problems in the automotive arena. The rest of the product tendencies are similar to the results in Q1.”

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 35 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.