According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global semiconductor industry sales reached $50.7 billion in January 2022, up 26.8% from $40.0 billion in January 2021, and down 0.2 from the total of $50.9 billion in December 2021 % .
"Following record sales and shipments in 2021, global semiconductor sales remained strong in early 2022, reaching the second-highest monthly sales on record in January," SIA said. "Global sales in January were consecutive The tenth month was up more than 20% year over year, and January sales into the Americas were up 40.2% year over year, leading all regional markets."
At the same time, the ECIA survey showed similar results. Electronic components sales trended higher in the January-February period as U.S. manufacturing boosted. Overall sales sentiment in February came in at 129.4, beating expectations by 16.3 percentage points. In the March outlook, the index fell only marginally to 125.2, suggesting that the supply chain is currently strong.
Any number above 100.0 obtained in the survey indicates positive momentum, according to pre-set technical parameter criteria. ECIA said that the performance of these two months shows that the elasticity and stability of the electronic components market are very encouraging.
The US PMI rose 1% to 58.6 in February (any number above 50.0 is a sign of expansion). While "US manufacturing remains in a demand-driven, supply-chain-constrained environment," said the Institute for Supply Management, "the Omicron variant still had an impact on the supply chain in February, but for now There are signs of easing and a possible recovery is expected in March.”
According to ECIA, surveys show that optimism in the electronics industry is spreading across almost all major component categories. The positive sentiment in the inductor market in particular has jumped considerably, surpassing even discrete devices, which were once the leading player in the index. In addition to inductors and discretes, analog/linear ICs and connectors scored significantly higher in the survey than other subcategories. The resistors scored slightly lower, though.
The ECIA survey revealed strong industry optimism for the first and second quarters of 2022. The overall average for the total number of respondents expected to grow in the first quarter of 2022 was 64%, with only a slight decline to 62% in the second quarter. Semiconductors again showed the highest level of optimism, with at least 70% of respondents expecting growth in both the first and second quarters.
However, a mix of growth expectations at different levels shows that growth expectations for the second quarter have turned lower compared to the first. While there are solid expectations for growth in the first half of 2022, growth may slow in the latter months.
As expected in January, sales sentiment scores for mobile phones, computers and consumer electronics fell below 100 in February, according to ECIA data. However, in the outlook for March, the data showed some improvement in the market, and the score is expected to increase to more than 100. Sales sentiment for both automotive electronics and industrial electronics was above 130. (Note: A score of 100 is the baseline, indicating "smooth" sales sentiment)
Of course, the survey also pointed out that respondents said that the order backlog in the former components industry jumped to 86%, and customer inventories are still too low. And the industry still describes the electronics supply chain as "a mess," with extended lead times, continued scarcity of some components, logistical delays, and other headwinds.
From a macro perspective, the industry's concerns about the economy have not eased, as inflationary pressures continue to build and consumer confidence has been hit hard. While the latest PMIs still show optimism about growth, the broader economic picture remains worrisome. Component manufacturers and retailers continue to face an extremely risky and uncertain future as supply chain challenges show no signs of abating.
