Will Europe's chip market recover in time for the World Cup?

True, figures released by IDEA, Europe's collective of component distributors, point to a return to growth in the bookings and billings trend in Q3.

But let's remember where the industry has been in the last 12 months and the pain is not over yet.

"Even this still represents a significant decline when compared to the same period in the previous year," said Adam Fletcher, v-p at IDEA.

So at best the supply chain in Europe is, to use Adam Fletcher's words, bouncing along the bottom of the recession and is unlikely to return to stable growth until this time next year.

But surely Europe won't have to wait until the start of next year's World Cup before sustained growth returns?

The view is that while the markets in China and the US are well on the way to full recovery, but Europe seems to be lagging behind.

But there is a chance that rising prices, and not growing demand, will come to the rescue.

What is certain now is the supply chain will see a period of lengthening lead times, wherever you are buying your components.

And it is not just that there is a risk that strong demand in Asia will suck inventory out of the supply chain.

There will inevitably be a reluctance for some suppliers to increase production capacity to make up any shortfall until they are certain of a sustained recovery.

The semiconductor industry was operating at very near full capacity for the leading edge processes and in the silicon foundries during the third quarter of the year, according to figures from SICAS (Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics).

Prices look set to rise, and even the memory suppliers are looking a bit more perky these days.

That will be very good news if you are selling high end chips, but not so good if you are buying.

May be the distributors are right to keep the Champagne on ice a little longer.