After two months that saw sliding electronic component sales sentiment, the July version of the Electronic Component Sales Trends (ECST) survey from the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) saw a reversal as the index rose 4.5 points.
This meant the overall electronic component sales sentiment had a score of 103.4. A score above 100 represents growth in the market.
The better news is that the survey indicates the August survey will continue this positive momentum with a forecast of 112.7 index score. ECIA said that while it is normal for the outlook to be stronger than the current month, any continued upward improvement would be an encouraging trend for the second half of 2024.
Main sectors
Among the largest sectors in the index, semiconductors had the strongest increase with a jump of 9.6 points to reach over 106. The outlook for August is for an index to reach 117 for semiconductors.
Electro-mechanical and interconnect components, which sustained a positive range above 100 in June, improved further by 3.4 points. In August, this sector is forecast to come in above 100.
Meanwhile, passive components were flat between June and July as all three passive segments struggled with scores between 97 and 100. ECIA said passive sales sentiment is project to improve the most in August with a jump of 13 points. There is hope that this will launch the segment into a strong second half of 2024, ECIA said.
Aligned
Among manufacturers representatives, distributors and manufacturers, which have been strangely aligned at times but often also completely at opposite ends of the index, were aligned with the overall average index.
Manufacture representatives came in slightly behind the scores of distributors and survey results show strong optimism for manufacture representatives. Simultaneously, manufacturers and distributors remain cautious with average scores only slightly above 100.
Cause for concern
Overall end markets for electronic components fell to 100 in July and the forecast for August is that this area will continue to fall below the threshold of 100 to 95.5. This comes after this sector in the first half of the year managed high index scores.
Why is it now struggling? ECIA said industrial electronics fell considerably in July to just slightly above 100. Avionics/military/space have lost ground for three straight months and will continue into August. All the other end-market sectors remained with scores just above 90 with telecom mobile phones below 85 in July.
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 information.
