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European chip distribution sees steep decline and a bit of hope
It is already clear that the market volume observed by DMASS has shrunk in the double-digit percentage range in 2009, compared to the year before. The question is only how deep the decline will be. After a 27-percent crash in the first nine months, the organization does not expect figures better than 20 percent below last year's level. If Q4 will turn out to be a very good one, the decline could perhaps be confined to 20 percent; otherwise the year-over-year comparison could yield a decline of up to 25 percent. DMASS chairman Georg Steinberger believes that the "dramatic hit" the industry has experienced is about to wear off now. The organization which tracks semiconductor sales to the industry excluding PC manufacturers, currently sees a steep increase in bookings. Still, the question has to be answered if the current recovery will last — there is still the possibility that the industry further down the value chain just performs a restocking maneuver with limited effect to the distribution channel. In this case, DMASS does not rule out that the first half of 2010 could see another phase of stagnation. Broken down by regions, Benelux got off lightly with a decline of only 10.2 percent. Italy, in contrast was hit the worst with sales almost 28 percent below last year's level. Also Germany as the largest semiconductor market in Europe was hit harder than average with a decline of 25 percent. In terms of product groups, MOS Micro saw the steepest decline with sales volume 27.7 percent below last year's level. Memory devices which had suffered badly in the year before were able to ease their decline; sales volumes were only 6.5 lower than in the first nine months of 2008, performing best of all product groups. Related links and articles: DMASS records steepest drop in semiconductor sales for 20 years
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