The European components distribution experienced a decline of 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 and 1.9 percent in the full year. According to DMASS (Distributors’ and Manufacturers’ Association of Semiconductor Specialists), the semiconductor distributor and manufacturer members achieved quarterly distribution revenues of 1.21 Billion Euro in Q4/2007 and of 5.37 Billion Euro in total 2007.

For the total year, the growth leaders among the regions were Eastern Europe (plus 15.9%) and Benelux (plus 15.5%), followed by Switzerland (plus 4.3%) and Germany (plus 0.2%). Eastern Europe, which is a conglomerate of countries defined in the DMASS structure, has established itself size-wise as the third-largest market (594 Million Euro in 2007), behind Germany (1.74 Billion Euro) and Italy (690 Million Euro). The UK and France, which experienced besides Israel the biggest drop, showed total 2007 revenue numbers of 515 Million Euro (-15.7%) and 455 Million Euro (-11.1%). The Nordic region was split between decline (Finland -10.6%, Denmark -2.8%) and single-digit growth (Sweden +4.1%, Norway +4%).

The segments which suffered the most were Other Logic (-13.4%), Programmable Logic (-11.8%) and Memories (-8.3%). Discrete Components grew by 4.1%, Opto and Analog grew very marginally between 0.2% and 0.8%, and MOS Micro went down by 1.1%. By far the biggest product areas, Standard Analog (1.1 Billion Euro) and Microcontrollers (948 Million Euro) remained positive, with 2% respectively 3%. The highest growth rates occurred in IGBTs and Sensors, comparatively small product groups. The single largest fall was in Flash Memory (108 Million Euro), with a decline of 25.4% against a strong 2006.