Semi sales through European distributors continue to boom

　　Demand for semiconductors from European companies showed no signs of slowing during the second quarter of 2017, according to distribution association DMASS. In its latest report, the organisation noted record semiconductor sales of €2.19billion, 17.3% higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2016.

　　Georg Steinberger, DMASS’ chairman, noted: “The dynamic growth over the last nine months was unprecedented. Significant allocations in several product areas make it difficult to predict the rest of the year, but it would be safe to assume that double-digit growth will continue through 2017.

　　Germany remains the biggest single market, with demand growing by 13.7% to €653million during the quarter. Meanwhile, sales into the UK and Ireland rose by 9.6% to €154m.

　　Analogue ICs – the largest product group reported by DMASS – saw sales grow by 16.7% to €656m, whilst sales of micros rose by 15.6% to €443 . Meanwhile, programmable logic sales increased by 27.1% to €155m and sales of memories by 27.9% to €183m.

　　Steinberger commented: “Programmable Logic is experiencing higher growth, despite channel shifts from distribution to direct, but this could be seasonal. However, even without these very particular growth spikes, the distribution market in Europe shows healthy double-digit growth.”

　　Despite the strong performance in the first half of 2017, DMASS doesn’t have a clear picture for the remainder of the year. "Looking forward remains difficult,” Steinberger concluded, “but DMASS totals of €8bn – an all-time record – are in range for the full year. What is surprising is that growth comes from almost all industry segments, driven by a higher electronics content across many applications.”