Through eight months of 2024, the electronic components supply chain mostly maintained positive sales growth. That all changed in September after sales sentiment fell below the 100-point threshold with a drop of nearly 10 points, according to the latest Electronic Component Sales Trends (ECST) survey from the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA).
A score of over 100 represents market growth.
The overall index fell to 98.8 points and while this is slightly below the threshold, the momentum that appeared to be building has all but been lost, ECIA said.
Struggling to gain footing
For the better part of the last three months, expectations for electronic components have been high but the market has struggled to gain footing to support consistent month-to-month growth, ECIA said.
While the October forecast shows the index reaching above the 100-point threshold, it has not been a reliable indicator in recent months. And while the third quarter survey showed optimism for the remainer of the year with sales improvement over Q3, again it is hard to know if this is a reliable metric.
Hit hard
Among the segments that were hit hard in the September index was semiconductors and passive components with a drop of 12 points in both sectors. Passive components saw its score fall all the way to 93 while semiconductors stabilized at 100.
Meanwhile, electro-mechanical components showed durability by only falling 5 points to come in at above 103.
The passive category saw a steep drop in sales sentiment in September with all three categories expected to see improved results in October. However, only inductors is forecast to reach 100.
Semiconductors are forecasted to improve in October nearly 7 points to reach 106.9 and electro-mechanical components will continue to be the most robust segment reaching 108.8 in October.
Closely aligned
While in recent months manufacturers, manufacturer representatives and distributors were not aligned at all in their sales sentiment. In September, all three supply chain sectors were close: Distributors only 3.7 points below the overall average; manufacturer representatives about 3.0 points above the average; and manufacturers 2.0 points above the average.
This close alignment is forecast to continue in October, ECIA said, which is again different than these three groups have previously been in recent months and years.
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.
