ATLANTA – Overall electronic component sales sentiment for April beat expectations by more than 13 points, as the index measurement grew from 113.6 to 119.6, according to ECIA’s latest survey.

Survey participants still expect growth in May but soften their expectations in the index to 111.5, a drop of 8.1 points and the lowest level since the November 2021 results.

“After a period of dramatic swings in the index, it has settled into a relatively stable range between 111 and 130 for overall sentiment over the past 10 months, with an average of 120,” said ECIA chief analyst Dale Ford. “As an added positive observation, the last time the index measured below 100 was July 2020. The market has seen nearly two years of positive momentum. Looking forward, the electronic component markets continue to face strong headwinds. Hopefully, the market will demonstrate continued resilience and relative stability in an increasingly unstable environment.”

Electro-Mechanical components saw a significant swing in sentiment once again in April. Following its drop of 16.8 points in March, it rebounded 15.8 points in April. By contrast, passive component sentiment recovered slightly, up 3.4 points, and semiconductors saw a slight 1.1 point dip in April following its steep March decline.

Expectations for May show a similar weakening trend across all three major categories, with index measurements dropping between 7.0 and 9.4. The strongest improvement in the index in April was seen in electro-mechanical, connectors and capacitors. By contrast every semiconductor subcategory saw a decline in April, with the exception of MCU/MPU.

Looking forward to May, with the exception of memory, the sentiment in every subcategory falls between 4 and 11 points. Expectations for memory are flat month-to-month. In spite of the broad-based expectations for a drop in sentiment in May, none of the component subcategories is projected to fall below 100 – the threshold between assessment/expectation of growth or decline.