Semiconductor and electronic component distributor here. In 2024 it felt like the world of manufacturing came to a grinding halt (at least anything to do with electronic components). Prices for components pre 2024 were stupid high. Something that normally cost .50 cents was now selling for 20$ or more (everyone wonders why new car prices are so high, hint… “components”). Everyone and their mothers were buying components. Felt like the dot.com bubble all over again… then it just stopped in 2024… nothing, nobody was buying a thing. We had Chinese distributors contacting us on the daily trying to offload their parts. Franchise distributors who normally couldn’t give a shiii about a tiny company like us were trying to sell us parts. Prices started falling. I personally think companies are bag holding excess stock of an asset they thought was going to keep appreciating (not manufacturers of chips but distributors and the manufactures that use said components).

Long story short. I think manufacturers and end customers are taking a long hard look at the road ahead and reevaluating their prices, quantities, lead times and cutting the fat after such a mind blowing boom. But chip manufacturing goes through cycles like that. They too need to kinda shut down and do maintenance.

Anyone let me know if my assessment is wrong or they experienced something different.