German component distribution: Positive start into 2014

The German component distribution market started this year with a slight plus. According to FBDi, the turn-over in the first quarter 2014 grew by 3.7% to 743 Mio. Euro. Order input grew by 7.6% to 768 Mio. Euro. As such, the book-to-bill-rate was above 1 for the sixth time in a row. There are signs for a positive development for the full year 2014. With a turn-over of 505 Million Euro (a plus of 3.5%), representing a share of 68% of the total market, once again the dominant semiconductors remained slightly lower than the average. Passive components grew by 5.6% to 111 Million Euro (15% share of the total market), electromechanical grew by 6.1% to 81 Mio. Euro. The rest of the market is divided between displays (2.9%), power supplies (2.1%) and sensors (0.8%). Due to the clear increase in orders for semiconductors (+9.6%) the overall allocation may shift in direction of semiconductors during the next quarters. Georg Steinberger, FBDi Chairman of the board, said: "We are still far away from the record figures of 2011, when FBDi reported a turn-over of 864 Million Euro for the first quarter, but regarding the delivered volume of components we should significantly exceed these figures in the meantime. Order situation allows to conclude that the growth will accelerate during the year. With positive long-term forecasts for the German industry in growth markets as i.e. lighting, medical, IoT (internet of things), or smart factory, FBDi remains optimistic in terms of further development of the distribution business."