In a world that lives by the quarter, 2012 was quite a ride for distributors. In short, it could have been worse, but it sure could have been better. It was another year of go-go quarters followed by abrupt pauses. That led to some interesting numbers on the annual Top 25 Distributors survey, but little ranking change (see complete chart, page S-18). Topping the list of the world's biggest electronics distributors were Avnet and Arrow, respectively, followed by WPG Holdings, Future Electronics, and WT Microelectronics. (WT wasn't included in the 2010 or 2011 top-distributors lists.) Three of the top five (Avnet, Arrow, and Future) are western companies that saw revenues dip in 2012 anywhere from 4% to 6%.
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