Milan, Italy: The International Distribution of Electronics Association (IDEA) reports a return to growth in the bookings and billings trend for the European electronic components distribution sector Q3’09, with the book-to-bill ratio improving to 1.08:1.
According to IDEA VP Adam Fletcher, the figures are better than the association’s previous guidance but in line with the financial results for many sectors of the global electronic components market.
“Whilst this improvement in the sequential results for both bookings and billings is great news, it is coming from an historically low base and still represents a significant decline when compared to the same period in the previous year,” Fletcher said. “The re-stabilisation of our industry and economy over the second half of the year is to be welcomed, but despite the optimistic industry forecasts I suspect that we will continue to bounce along the bottom of this recession. It’s unlikely that we will see a return to stable growth in Europe until this time next year.”
Total European distribution bookings (net sales orders entered) in Q3’09 increased by 16% when compared to the previous quarter, but declined by 10% when compared to the same period in 2008. In sector-specific bookings changes in Q3’09 compared to the same period last year, semiconductors declined by 7%, and passives declined by 16%