Since entering the Asian market in 1995, Avnet's Electronics Marketing (EM) division has quickly become a leader in the region, posting sales of $2.7 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007. While that total lags Avnet's revenue from Europe, the Middle East and Africa ($3.3 billion) and North and South America ($3.7 billion), the company sees major growth prospects for the Asian market.

"Despite the keen competition in the Asia market, Avnet EM Asia maintained . . . double-digit growth compared with the previous fiscal year," said Stephen Wong, president of Avnet EM Asia.

With more than 40 offices in the region--which includes Australia, China, India, South Korea, New Zealand and Taiwan--Avnet distributes semiconductors, interconnects, passives and electromechanical components to OEMs, electronics-manufacturing services providers and small to midsize businesses. The distributor also offers associated design chain and supply chain services through its six design and seven logistics centers in Asia.

"Asia is evolving to become an important design base for many worldwide brands," Wong said. "Many original design manufacturers or design houses have evolved [there] and generated more innovation in the technology market. The economic scale of many Asian manufacturers, ODMs and even local companies has become more significant than [it was] 10 or 15 years ago."

By investing in technical resources, Avnet EM has maintained an industry-leading ratio (1:1.6) of field application engineers to field sales engineers, to better provide engineering support for suppliers' products.