UK/Ireland distributor sales off to a flier in 2018

According toecsn chairman Adam Fletcher, January 2018 saw a reversal of the disappointing semiconductor sales that UK and Ireland Authorised Distributors experienced in December 2017.

"Compared to the same period 2017, semiconductors sales increased by 16% in January", and sales of passives also showed a 16% increase", Fletcher said. “Electro-mechs" jumped 31% while “Component Assemblies” rose 11%. However, our catch-all “Other Products” reporting group showed a small (5%) decline compared to the same month 2017".

The Book-to-Bill ratio declined ‘by 13 points to 0.98:1 in January 2018, but afdec/ecsn members welcomed an increase in overall Bookings of 8% compared to December 2017, together with a 6% increase over January 2017:

"The polynomial trend line suggests a positive B2B ratio as we progress further into the first half of 2018", continued Fletcher. "The Sales by Month “three month moving average” for all electronic components suggests that growth will continue through the first half of this year which is broadly in-line with longer term historical trends".

ecsn/afdec members broadly agree that UK customers remain positive about their business prospects into 2018 and are continuing to add order cover to meet customer demand: "I suspect most customers have now slightly increased their in-house inventory to reflect the extended manufacturer lead-times and are placing longer term schedules on their distributors, in-line with forecast demand ", concludes Fletcher. "Our members anticipate continued sales revenue growth in 1H’18” and are diligently managing their inventory in-line with demand from their customers”.