Situation of the French semiconductor market at 1ˢᵗ quarter 2018

Paris, June 1ᵉʳ, 2018 – The French semiconductor market totaled 472 million euros in the first quarter of 2018, according to data compiled by ACSIEL Alliance Electronique’s Club Semiconducteurs. This amount is 0.7% higher than in the first quarter of 2017. In 2015, the market returned to its pre-crisis level, and for the past year has once again been on a steady upward trend on a sliding average basis.

In the first quarter, there was a diametrically opposed trend between direct sales to OEMs down and sales to distributors up +9.8% on the fourth quarter of 2017.

Sales to the Automotive and Smart Card segments recorded moderate growth, of +1.8% and +3.7% respectively. The decline in direct sales to OEMs in the first quarter came from the Consumer & Computer, MilAero and Industrial segments.

Billings to the Mil-Aero segment suffered a significant contraction, but this follows a record sales figure in the fourth quarter of 2017, and the average market level remains high over the last two quarters as a whole.

Although direct sales to the Industrial segment have slowed, they have contributed in no small measure to the strong growth in sales to distributors. Indeed, according to ACSIEL, semiconductors for various industrial applications account for an average of 60% of sales of active components to distributors (average estimate for 2017).

Automobiles and retail reinforce their pre-eminence

In the first quarter, direct sales to the Automotive segment accounted for 46% of direct sales to OEMs, compared with 39% on average in 2017.

Sales to the distribution channel, for their part, reached a record level with almost 37% of TAM France, compared with 32% on average in 2017.

In terms of products, the MOS-Micros family was the main cause of the drop in sales to OEMs. However, this masks a very contrasting trend between the sharp drop in Microprocessors, which is highly seasonal, and the rise in Microcontrollers, demand for which is driven in particular by the automotive and IOT markets.

The MOS-Logic, Optoelectronics and Analog product families also recorded a decline in sales. Sensors & Actuators were virtually stable, while Discretes enjoyed an estimated +6% rise.

Quarterly trends in the French market since 2010, in indexes, annual moving average – Source #ACSIEL