The August 2024 Electronic Component Sales Trends (ECST) survey from the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) saw continued momentum for the electronic components supply chain as the overall index improved to 108.4 during the month.
A score over 100 represents the market is growing.
The encouraging news is that September will continue to be good with only a slight drop forecast for the index to 107.9, ECIA said. Before July, the ECST survey dropped below the 100-threshold causing concern for market health. However, all three major component segments realized scores of around 100 in August and it is forecast for September as well.
ECST does warn that often the forecast for the coming month is projected to be stronger than the actual index score. But the positive market trend is projected to continue through the fourth quarter.
Passive improvement
Among the major categories, passive components had the greatest improvement in August with a 6.5 point to move the sector out of the negative sentiment territory to a positive score of 104.7. Additionally, Semiconductors and electro-mechanical components saw strong positive scores in August, improving to 111.8 and 108.6, respectively.
The September outlook for semiconductors looks to have a slight slip to 103.0 with electro-mechanical and passive components showing improvements to stay above 100. The fourth quarter outlook shows about 35% of survey participants projecting growth in all sectors.
Mixed results
Among manufacturers, manufacture representatives and distributors, manufacturers have become the most conservative group in their sales sentiment with scores in negative territory for both August and forecast for September. ECIA said it has generally been the most optimistic of these three groups in prior surveys. Distributors lead all three groups with strong positive sentiment in July, August and forecast for September.
Among other sectors, avionics/military/space scores returned to prominent levels in August and forecast in September. Medical electronics is the only other segment to deliver an index score over 100 in August. However, ECIA said computers and consumer electronics electronic components are expected to be below 100 in the September forecast but might rise in the following months.
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.
