DMASS reports leap in semiconductor distribution but warns of shortages

DMASS reported Q3 distribution revenue for semiconductors of €2.46bn and €1.13bn for IPE distribution sales. The combined members of DMASS, covering nearly 80% of European components’ TAM, reports revenues of €3.6bn, a 35.6% for Q3.

New chairman of DMASS, Herman Reiter, added a note of caution, however, saying that there is still a shortage of components across market sectors. “While we seem to enjoy a healthy growth at the moment, the pressure is on all market participants to find solutions and avoid further disruptions. When the situation will change is not clear, but we hope that 2022 will bring some relief.,” he says.

Breaking down the countries and regions, DMASS reports Italy experienced growth of 54% in Q3, with revenues of €219m, followed by Nordic countries with 44.8% growth (revenues of €203m)  and the UK’s 40% growth and revenues of €167m. Germany grew by 25% in Q3, realising revenues of €672m, followed by France (36.4% and €152m) and Eastern Europe with 28.7% growth and revenues of €430m.

The highest growth areas in the period were discretes (57.4% growth and €149m revenues) and memories (54.4% growth and €241m revenues). Other notable markets were semiconductor sensors which grew by 39.6% to €72m and power semiconductors rose by 38% to €291m. Standard logic increased by 35.8% to €34m, the opto sector rose by 34.6% with revenues of €237m, programmable logic rose by 35.1% to €145m.

Other areas still had significant growth: analogue products grew by 24.4% to €689m, MOS micros rose 25.8% with revenues of €484m,  DMASS Press Release Q3-2021 2The lowest growth rates were seen by (non programmable) logic which rose 11.7% with revenues of €122m.

Sales of DMASS IPE grew in Q3/CY21 by 44.7% to €1.13bn. As with the semiconductor market, Germany and Eastern Europe are the biggest regional markets, followed by Italy, the UK, France and Nordic countries. At the product level, passives and electromechanical products grew at 45% and 46% respectively with revenues of €539m (passives) and €530m for electromechanical devices.8 Power Supplies make up approximately 6% of the IPE market and grew by 35% in the period to €65m.

Reiter marvels at the increases: “It is amazing how in times of shortage, many product areas show similar high growth rates while in normal times the spread is quite huge. It is also rare to see IPE products outgrow the semiconductor side by such an extent. For 2021, we are optimistic to come close or exceed the 20% mark for year on year growth of all components.

“We would hope that by mid-2022 we will see some relief on the supply side and the supply chain,” he says. He refers to the industry’s “geopolitical inflection marks, where availability and access to technology may drive the development rather than the actual end market demand”.