Anglia warns of longer lead times as market picks up
Anglia Components is warning customers that lead times for certain electronic components are beginning to extend as market demand increases across the UK and Europe.
According to the distributor, enquiry levels and sales activity have picked up since late 2025, in line with earlier expectations. At the same time, suppliers have started to lengthen lead times in selected product categories.
“We're seeing a higher level of enquiries and sales are picking up, both in the UK and across the EU,” says David Pearson, Anglia’s Technical Director, in a press release. “However, whilst we are happy to see the market moving at last, suppliers are now extending leadtimes on certain products - not yet across the board, but in certain product areas such as MEMS semiconductors.”
David Pearson says that demand from areas such as AI data centres has led certain manufacturers to shift capacity towards higher-margin products. As an example, he points to memory manufacturers reallocating production away from consumer memory modules towards high-bandwidth memory, increasing pressure on supplies of DRAM products such as DDR memory.
Anglia also notes that these developments are beginning to have pricing effects. According to the company, price increases of around 3–5 percent have been observed in specific sectors, though not across the market as a whole.
The distributor adds that the situation is being compounded by lower inventory levels across the distribution channel, following inventory reductions in recent years. With excess stock largely cleared, Anglia expects shortages and longer lead times to emerge as demand continues to rise, though the timing remains uncertain.
“We’re not sure exactly when the tipping point will be,” Pearson says, “but we are sure it will come. Therefore, our strong advice is get scheduled orders in now, before component manufacturers close their books for 2026, as has already happened with one memory supplier.”
