According to the report of the German Electronic Components Distribution Association (FBDi eV), despite the shortage of spare parts, the German electronic components distribution market continued to grow in the first quarter of 2018, and the order status was still very stable. Despite the tight supply of many electronic components, the turnover of German distributors in the first quarter of 2018 continued to increase. The report pointed out that sales of German distribution companies increased by 7% to 978 million euros. Between January and March 2018 (compared to the first quarter of 2017), orders increased by 8% to 1.09 billion euros.

Germany's electronic components distribution market has risen-SemiMedia

In terms of products, passive components increased by 10.6% (up to 136 million euros), followed by electromechanical (7.1% to 105 million euros) and semiconductors (6.5% to 676 million euros). Power supply increased by 14% to 30 million euros. Display sales fell by 5.5% to 22 million euros.

Germany's electronic components distribution market has risen-SemiMedia

FBDi Chairman Georg Steinberger stated: "The low growth rate in the first quarter of 2018 was largely due to the long lead times for many components, orders and processed orders were postponed, and delivery times were greatly reduced, such as large orders. At present, we have not seen any passive components. According to our estimation, the first quarter was a good indicator for the entire year of 2018. The economic situation of the German electronics industry is still good and its innovation power is very high."

As far as the electronic components industry is concerned, market researchers such as IC Insights stated that investment in new capacity in 2018 will increase to more than US$100 billion (only for semiconductors), and the production of passive components will increase significantly. However, most market participants believe that the demand for electronic components for some key products (smartphones) will continue to grow rapidly and that 2018 will be a year of rising prices and long lead time.