While the November Electronic Component Sales Trends (ECST) survey from the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) showed strong confidence in sales sentiment in all electronic components, the December outlook is very pessimistic.
The better news is that this December outlook is overshadowed by bright optimism for the first quarter of 2025.
The drop in sales sentiment in December for all electronic components are expected to hit the lowest level since the December 2023 through February 2024 ECST survey period.
While this is a tough way to end the year, ECIA forecasts sales sentiment for electronic components will rebound in the first quarter with sales growth to jump by 15% to 27% between the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025.
Q1 projections
The survey for the first quarter found that 46% of participants expect sales growth while those seeing a decline is only 7%. Those reporting neutral expectations are 47%. Those expecting a decline in sales in Q1 only see it falling by negative 1% or negative 3%.
Of those thinking sales growth will happen in Q1 2025, 15% expect 3% to 5% growth and 4% of participants project growth over 5%.
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.
