Growth returning to West European electronics industry.(marketfocus)

Semiconductor International, April, 2004

The electronics industry downturn, which began with the collapse of the telecommunications and dot-cam boom at the end of 2000/beginning of 2001, continued into 2003. According to a recent report published by Reed Electronics Research and distributed by In-Stat/MDR, an expected recovery during the first half of the year failed to materialize, resulting in the West European electronics market declining by a further, but more modest, 2.2%, following declines of 13.4 and 10.7% in 2002 and 2001, respectively.

However, a brighter picture is forecast for the West European electronics market in 2004, with confidence returning across the industry. Signs of a recovery started to appear in the second half of 2003, and gained momentum in the final quarter. The...