It was not good news from the latest Electronic Component Sales Trends (ECST) survey from the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) as overall sale sentiment for electronic components plummeted in May to 72.2 points.
This is well below the expectations the ECIA had for May of 99.1 points. The May index fell by 14.5 points compared to April’s 86.8 point index and was the third consecutive month of declining sentiment, ECIA said.
Maybe even worse news is that the outlook for June is only a modest improvement from May of 78.6 points.
ECIA said the result of the May survey combined with signs pointing to an extended market recovery period happening means a turnaround is now expected at the end of 2023 at the earliest. Previously, ECIA and other organizations had expected the turnaround to begin in the second half of this year.
Differing sentiment
ECIA reported that manufacturers and distributors had different views of the market in May. Distributors and manufacturer representatives delivered bearish inputs of overall index scores of 71 and 60, respectively. Simultaneously, manufacturers registered a 91 index score with three component categories scoring at or above 100.
ECIA said that a possible explanation was that manufacturers were seeing stronger performance in direct business while inventory balancing by distributors is still in process.
Among sectors, semiconductors scored the lowest in the overall May index with passive components having the steepest month-to-month fall, collapsing 24 points. Electromechanical/connector sales delivered the best results, and the avionics/military/space market was the only sector that did not see a sharp increase in sentiment.
About the ECIA ECST report
The ECST survey provides highly valuable and detailed visibility on industry expectations in the near-term through the monthly and quarterly surveys. This “immediate” perspective is helpful to participants up and down the electronics components supply chain. In the long-term, ECIA shares in the optimism for the future as the continued introduction and market adoption of exciting innovative technologies should motivate both corporate and consumer demand for next-generation products over the long term.
The complete ECIA ECST report is delivered to all ECIA members as well as others who participate in the survey. All participants in the electronics component supply chain are invited and encouraged to participate in the report so they can see the highly valuable insights provided by the ECST report.
The monthly and quarterly ECST reports present data in detailed tables and figures with multiple perspectives and covering current sales expectations, sales outlook, product cancellations, product decommits and product lead times. The data is presented at a detailed level for six major electronic component categories, six semiconductor subcategories and eight end markets. Also, survey results are segmented by aggregated responses from manufacturers, distributors and manufacturer representatives.
Interested in reading the entire ECST report? Click here for more info.
