© dmitry bomshtein dreamstime.com
Components | August 21, 2020
Deep COVID-19 impact on European semiconductor distribution in Q2
What was still a mix of market- and pandemic-driven uncertainties in Q1, turned out to be a real, directly COVID-19 and lockdown-related downturn for the European Semiconductor Distribution in the second quarter of 2020. According to DMASS, sales in the European Semiconductor Distribution Market fell by 20.7% to EUR 1.82 Billion.
“As feared in our Q1 PR, the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic aftermath, starting across Europe in February and March, hit the electronics industry with full force in the second quarter. Manufacturing shutdown, economic uncertainties among consumers and companies and lack of supply chain visibility drove many customers to step on the ordering brake and led to a lot of pushouts on existing orders. Ironically, it could have been worse, and we do not really know what will come at us in the second half of 2020 – Rally or Rafting,” says Georg Steinberger, chairman of DMASS, in a press release.
At a country or regional level, the situation was equally bad across the board and major regions and markets ended with a double-digit decline (except Ireland, Netherlands, Austria and Russia): Germany went down by 21.6% to EUR 528 million, Italy ended at -19.3% and EUR161 million, France at -21.4% and EUR 121 million, the UK at -23.6% and EUR 119 million, Eastern Europe at a staggering -30.6% and EUR 279 million and the Nordic countries at -33.2% and EUR 138 million.
“It is almost impossible to find anything positive or less negative in Q2, but clearly countries that are predominantly contract manufacturing-driven suffered most,” says Georg Steinberger.
No positive news on the product side, except that more design-oriented and exclusive products declined less than standard products. Of the major product groups, Standard Discrete went down by 31.4% to EUR 87 million, Discrete Power by 23.5% to EUR 196 million, Opto by “only” 17.1% to EUR 164 million, Analog by 22% to EUR 534 million, Memories by 32.4% to EUR 141 million, MOS Micro by 15.3% to EUR 383 million, Programmable Logic by 12.8% to EUR 128 million, Standard Logic by 18.2% to EUR 27 million and finally Other Logic by 14.5% to EUR 112 million.
“Besides Covid-19, you also see some special effects of product categories slowly deteriorating – arguably legacy technologies like SRAMs and EEPROMs – or disappearing from distribution as an effect of suppliers taking some business direct, like Digital Signal Processors (DSPs). But none of those have a major effect on the totals. However, the fact that standard products are suffering more than expensive specialties is strange, as the financial risk on the customer side is rather low. We will see how this pushback on standard products develops, once the market turns around,” says Steinberger.
2020 will be a year of significant double-digit decline, “whether we like it or not,”, according to Steinberger, “and it could, no, should be the beginning of a reassessment of how we operate as an industry and at a larger scale, as society in general. It is clear that resources become scarcer and the throwaway mentality of the last 50 years will lead to disaster. Technology can play a major part in recreating a sustainable world, but as we can see by its interrupted supply chain, it is also part of the current problem. The big question is: how can the significant influence of technology be used to make changes to a sustainable better world? Can it?”
Nexperia and Kyocera to develop GaN automotive power modules
Nexperia and Kyocera AVX Components (Salzburg) GmbH, have entered into a partnership with a focus on power components – the companies aims to jointly developing GaN applications for electric vehicles.
Intel invests $700 million in new Oregon mega lab
The US chipmaker plans to invest more than USD 700 million for a 200,000 square-foot, research and development mega lab focused on data center technologies and addressing areas such as heating, cooling and water usage.
Sponsored content by Proval Service
Since 25 years your partner for SMT stencils and solder pallets.
25 years of experience makes Proval Service not just a supplier but your trustful and grounded partner to support you with SMT stencils and solder pallets. A qualified and unite team can satisfy every customer's need during the whole process.
Obsolescence management cannot be an afterthought
“Obsolescence has always existed. However, it usually only becomes really critical for companies when the exception mutates into the norm. And in recent years we have unfortunately experienced this unwanted development not only with semiconductor chips, but increasingly with many other components, materials and raw materials,” says IIOM President and COGD Chairman Dr Wolfgang Heinbach.
Tower record 1Q22 revenues of $421 Million, a 21% YoY
Tower Semiconductor reported first quarter 2022 revenue of USD 421 million, an increase of 21% compared to USD 347 million in the first quarter of 2021.
Gallium Semiconductor opens its Nijmegen R&D center
Gallium Semiconductor has officially held the grand opening of its European R&D center in a ceremony in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Ferrotec to add manufacturing capacity with new plant in Malaysia
Ferrotec, a global supplier of materials, components, and precision system solutions, is establishing a new manufacturing facility at Kulim Hi-Tech Park, Kedah, facilitated by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
Skeleton targets the Polish market – teams up with ZPUE
Supercapacitor specialist, Skeleton Technologies, and ZPUE, a Polish manufacturer of electrical devices for electrical power distribution utilities, have entered into a commercial agreement to provide energy storage solutions to the Polish market.
ERP partners with Flip to fulfill EOL and Obsolete component solutions
Flip Electronics has signed a franchised distributor partnership agreement with ERP Power (ERP) to distribute its End-of Life (EOL) semiconductor products.
Foxconn and DNeX build and operate wafer fab in Malaysia
Dagang NeXchange Berhad (DNeX) and Foxconn subsidiary Big Innovation Holdings (BIH), plan to set up a joint venture company to build and operate a new 300mm wafer fab in Malaysia.
Sponsored content by Fusion
Manufacturers Reassess their Supply Chains
Prevailing obstacles since the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 have manufacturers reassessing their supply chain strategies. The following major disruptions that occurred entering 2022 added to existing setbacks, or created new ones altogether:
Imec and semiconductor partners target greener chip manufacturing
Nanoelectronics research and innovation center, imec, says that it has managed to pool together stakeholders from the semiconductor value chain – from companies such as Apple and Microsoft, to suppliers, including ASM, Kurita, SCREEN and Tokyo Electron – to participate in its Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems (SSTS) research program.
SiPearl reaches milestone – 100 employees
The European chip designer has exceeded 100 employees across its six sites in France (Maisons-Laffitte, Grenoble, Massy, Sophia Antipolis), Germany (Duisburg) and Spain (Barcelona).
Arrow names Jörg Strughold as president EMEA components
Arrow Electronics announces that Jörg Strughold will take over as president of its components business in EMEA. He succeeds Martin Bielesch who has decided to leave the company.
€14 billion to attract semiconductor players to Germany
EUR 14 billion in state support is the German governments new strategy to attract more chipmakers to the country.
10 different companies have expressed interest in Toshiba
Back in April 2022, Toshiba Corporation announced that it had resolved to solicit proposals on strategic alternatives from potential investors and sponsors. The Japanese company is seeking to enhance its corporate value and has since the announcement been holding discussions with the potential partners.
Avnet breaks ground on German expansion
In order to better serve its customers’ local and global needs, Avnet is expanding in two locations in Germany. Avnet Embedded broke ground on a new manufacturing site in Eschbach and Avnet EMEA plans to build its third European logistics centre in Bernburg.
Viettel & Qualcomm team up on 5G infrastructure development
Viettel Group and Qualcomm Technologies plans to collaborate and develop a next-generation 5G Radio Unit (RU) with massive MIMO capabilities and distributed units (DUs). This focuses on helping to expedite the development and roll-out of 5G network infrastructure and services in Vietnam and globally.
Applied Materials opens Montana expansion – create 200 new jobs
The company has opened its latest expansion in Montana, a new semiconductor manufacturing center set to create 200 jobs in the Flathead Valley.
How to easily select the right frequency generation component
Question: What is the right frequency generation component for my application?
Bell Semiconductor is suing companies left and right
In late April, Bell Semiconductor, a Pennsylvania-based technology and intellectual property licensing company, filed lawsuits against Micron, Infineon, Nvidia and seven other companies alleging infringement of one of its patents.
Can pre-owned equipment be the way out of the shortage?
The global semiconductor supply chain remains under immense pressure. However, major investments are being made to increase capacity and fortify the supply chain for the future – but we wont feel the effect of these investments for years. Adding to the issue, there is not enough chips for the chipmaking machines.
CN Rood takes over ABtronix
Test and measurement equipment supplier, CN Rood, expands its position in both Scandinavia and the Belelux via the acquisition of ABtronix, professional T&M equipment.
STMicro supplies SiC tech to Semikron for EV power modules
STMicroelectronics has revealed it is supplying SiC technology for the eMPack electric-vehicle power modules from Semikron.
Henkel opens new application center in Silicon Valley
Henkel is opening its Application Center in Santa Clara, California designed to support product development for the company's high-tech customers in the Silicon Valley region. The application center will help expedite proof-of-concept initiatives for electronics advances.
Load more news