European semi market show signs of recovery

Although Q1 sales were 5% lower than the same period last year, DMASS has described the sequential development as 'extremely promising'. Commenting on the results, the organisation's chairman Georg Steinberger said: "I am sure that many market participants are relieved that the worst is obviously behind us. "However, there is still some risk in the market, particularly through price pressure and production shifts. At least, the booking situation has slightly improved, so that another year of decline does not seem too probable." Regionally, the most promising growth area was slated as the Nordic and Eastern region, which saw 1% growth. Germany, on the other hand, saw a decline of more than 9%. Sales in Italy and France were down 7.7% and 6% respectively, while the UK saw a decline of 3%. Product wise, DMASS says the programmable logic market declined by 11.3% in Q1, while sales of optoelectronic devices were up by 2.3%. Analogue products saw a decline of 2.8%, while the sensor market grew by almost 13%.