Component shortages drive up German distribution
German components distribution grew 25.2 percent in Q3 2021 according to industry association FBDi, with bookings up +135 percent. However the industry and customers are still concerned about component shortages and over-ordering, says chairman Georg Steinberger.
Sales by distributor members of the FBDi grew by 25.2 percent to €887m in the third quarter with record orders of €1.48bn and creating a record book-to-bill ratio of 1.67. For the year as a whole, the electronics components distribution industry is expected to grow by between 15 and 20 percent, returning to the pre-pandemic levels of around €3.3bn
Semiconductors, by far the largest product group, grew by just under 20 percent to €576m, electromechanics by 38 percent to €126m, and passives by 38 percent to €115m .
Sensors were up 69 percent to just under €9m, displays up 24 percent to €16m, power supplies (including batteries) up 29 percent to €34m and assemblies and subsystems up 39 percent to just under €11m. This resulted in a slightly different market split between semiconductors (65 percent), passives (13 percent) and electromechanical components (14 percent). Power supplies and the remaining products each contributed 4 percent.
“Compared to the once again massive increase in orders, the 25 percent sales growth in the third quarter is almost disappointing. The lack of availability has clearly had an impact on our growth,“ said FBDi Chairman of the board Georg Steinberger. „How much of the future orders can actually be realized remains to be seen as almost 4.2 billion euros in new orders have been booked in 2021 alone, in 3 quarters! Even with a lot of imagination, this cannot reflect the true market demand, even if a large part of next year already seems to be in the bag.”
The FBDi Professional Association of Component Distribution represents a large portion of distributors of electronic components with operations in Germany and is a member of the International Distribution of Electronics Association (IDEA).
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