Electronic components are moving back to the centre of industrial strategy as companies across Europe grapple with the twin pressures of digitalisation and decarbonisation. What was once treated as a routine purchasing category is increasingly shaping whether new systems can be designed, built and brought into service on time.
The shift is visible in the changing profile of demand. Businesses are no longer simply ordering standard parts at the lowest possible price, but looking...
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for sensors with built-in connectivity, microcontrollers suited to edge AI, efficient power supplies and parts that meet environmental and interoperability requirements. That is forcing procurement teams to think less like buyers of commodities and more like managers of technological capability.
The strain on supply chains is helping to reinforce that change. ANIE, Italy’s national federation for electrotechnical and electronic companies, represents around 1,500 member firms and says the sector employs about 500,000 people with a combined turnover of €84 billion. Christian Reinwald, head of product management and marketing at reichelt elektronik, pointed to ANIE data showing that more than half of associated electrotechnical companies report difficulties obtaining raw materials, while a majority cite particular problems with electronic components.
That matters because the bottleneck can be surprisingly small. A missing sensor, controller or module can slow a prototype, delay a pilot line or disrupt scale-up. In sectors built on fast development cycles, even a short interruption can affect cost, competitiveness and delivery schedules.
Market forecasts suggest the pressure will only intensify. Grand View Research estimates that the European edge computing market was worth $3.42 billion in 2023 and will expand at a compound annual rate of 35.4% through 2030. The firm also projects the European industrial automation market will rise from $53.7 billion in 2022 to $94.6 billion by 2030. Both trends depend heavily on embedded electronics, from low-latency processors to connected devices capable of operating inside industrial and energy systems.
In Italy, the pattern is similar. ANIE Confindustria said production in the technology sector rose 2.2% in 2024 even as overall manufacturing contracted by 3.7%. ICE, Italy’s trade agency, separately reported a 2.4% increase in output volumes in the electrotechnics and electronics field, underlining the strength of the most advanced segments.
For distributors, that creates a different commercial and technical role. The old model of catalogue, price and delivery is giving way to something closer to consultancy: anticipating demand, guiding specification choices, and helping customers manage inventories against a backdrop of rapid technological change. The need is not just for availability, but for breadth of range, speed and engineering support.
Reinwald argues that this is the real meaning of the energy and digital transition. It is not an abstract policy slogan, but a material transformation built on hardware choices made early in the value chain. The invisible parts of the system are becoming the decisive ones, because they are the foundation on which smart infrastructure, industrial automation, electric mobility and connected energy networks are built.
In that sense, electronics is no longer a supporting element of innovation. It is the structure that makes innovation possible.
Source: Noah Wire Services
