European Components Distribution speeds towards a record year 2022

According to DMASS, semiconductor distribution sales, as reported by members, grew by a stunning 44.3% to €3.58bn, the highest revenue ever recorded. IP&E (Interconnect, Passive and Electromechanical) components grew by 14.8% to €1.52bn. In total, the components distribution market grew by 34% to €5.1bn.

Hermann Reiter, chairman of DMASS: “Reading all the gloomy market outlooks for the global semiconductor market, these Q3 results most certainly must have come as a surprise to everyone. If availability had been better, I am sure distribution could have delivered even more. The significant growth is really due to a mix of price increases, exchange rate effects and improved availability from manufacturers. However, we also see relief in some components areas from an availability perspective. And in contrast to semiconductors, IP&E products already see a change in the market. All in all, we have reached a very high plateau of sales that will be hard to retain into next year. We think customers have covered a significant portion of their 2023 demand already in 2022, as can be seen with lower incoming orders.”

Semiconductors (Q3):

Semiconductors really drove the summer quarter. From a regional view, the growth spread across countries and regions was quite huge. Germany as the largest region grew by a stunning 53% to €1.03bn, followed by Italy (46% to €322m), France (51% to €231m) and the UK (32.8% to €223m). Eastern Europe increased by 50% to €651m, Nordic by 47% to €299m, Israel by 85% to €167m, Iberia by 59% to €153m, Benelux by 39% to €136m, Switzerland by 47% to €136m and Austria by 66% to €109m. Russian sales came to an almost complete halt and Turkey trails all other countries in growth.

Product-wise, the growth picture varied tremendously, from a disappointing 8% in Opto (mainly drive down by negative LED numbers) to a 90% growth in Other Logic (ASSPs). Analog and MOS Micro as the biggest product groups showed pretty strong performance with MOS Micro growth ahead of Analog products: MOS Micro grew by 47% to €712m (MCUs: 57%), Analog by 46.7% to €1.01BN, Power by 37.4% to €413M, Memories by 60% to €385M (Flash: 68%), Opto by 7.9% to €257M, Programmable Logic by 61% to €233M and Other Logic by 90.5% also to €233M. Discretes (+21% to €185M) and Sensors (+39% to €101M) ended the quarter below average.

Interconnect, passive and electromechanical components (Q3):

Interconnect, passive and electromechanical (IP&E) components grew in Q3/22 at a slower pace than Semiconductors, although surprisingly strong from a sequential perspective. Q3 sales of €1.52m split as follows: Germany grew by 18.7% to €411m, Italy by 11.8% to €151m, France by 15.8% to €127m, UK by 20.4 to €151m, Eastern Europe by 15.7% to €205m and Nordic by 13.6% to €128m. Electromechanical products as the biggest product group (incl. Interconnect) grew by 15.2% to €807m, Passives by 13% to €622m and Power Supplies by 24.6% to €92m.

Chairman Hermann Reiter: “With a market development as experienced over the last two years and geopolitical as well as economic challenges mounting, the near-term future becomes more and more unpredictable. While the long-term outlook especially for semiconductors looks great, weak demand already leaves its mark in 2022’s global market and could well lead to a bumpy time ahead. Europe and especially distribution have shown great resilience so far, and our strong industrial base carries many opportunities for sustainable growth. The awareness for digitalisation, a transformation of the energy infrastructure and the need for rethinking future living concepts and mobility is extremely high and hopefully translates into more interesting projects with our customers.”