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Europe's semiconductor market saw a modest rally in the last few months.

Although there was a year-on-year fall in sales of semiconductors through distribution channels in the second quarter, the fall was considerably less than in Q1, according to figures from DMASS (Distributors’ and Manufacturers’ Association of Semiconductor Specialists).

“The decline in Q2 was considerably lower than in Q1. Unless something unexpected happens,  like a sinking demand in volumes, the cycle should continue to flatten out," said Ian Bass, chairman of DMASS.

"On a cumulative basis, the first six months of 2008 so far brought a decline of 5.8%. Let’s be optimistic that our specialised manufacturing base in Europe holds up and the price pressure, driven by the weak dollar, reduces during the year,” said Bass.

According to the DMASS figures, semiconductor distributor and manufacturer members achieved quarterly distribution revenues of €1.34bn in Q2, which represents a decline of only 3.6%. Sequentially, against Q1, sales were down by 3.3%.

“The pattern seems to have crystallised over time, with Germany and Eastern Europe continuously holding the top ranks. Italy and Nordic seem to maintain their levels and positions, while specifically the UK still shows extreme weakness, at least from a market perspective," said Bass.

The regional differences showed a similar pattern to previous quarters with Germany and Eastern Europe doing significantly better than the rest, most countries in a mid-single-digit decline and some countries in a steep fall. The UK dropped 16.3% to €116m.

"Nevertheless, the UK continues to be a major design region with more influence over electronics decision-making than the market might suggest,” said Bass.

DMASS is a European non-profit organisation with 33 active members, representing between 80% and 85% of the total European distribution market, depending on the regions.

Manufacturer members are:                   

Analog Devices 
Avago Technologies     
Atmel  
Cypress                                        
Fairchild                                      
Freescale Semiconductor        
Fujitsu Microelectronics                               
Infineon                                               
Intel Corporation                                              
International Rectifier
Intersil                               
Lattice Semiconductor
Maxim
Micron
National Semiconductor
NEC Electronics
Numonyx
NXP Semiconductors
ON Semiconductor
Osram Opto Semiconductors
Renesas Technology
Sharp Microelectronics
Spansion
STMicroelectronics
Texas Instruments
Toshiba
Vishay Semiconductor

Distributor members are:

Anglia
Arrow
Avnet (Silica, Avnet Memec and Avnet SCS)
EBV Elektronik
Future Electronics
Rutronik