Arrow, Digi-Key ink new distribution deals

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 8/29/2007

Electronics distribution companies Arrow Electronics Inc. and Digi-Key Corp. separately announced this week an expansion on an existing distribution deal and the inking of a new distribution deal, respectively.

The North American components (NAC) business of Arrow announced that it is expanding its agreement with Conec, an Ontario, Canada-based electronics connector manufacturer, to become the exclusive broadline distributor in North America of Conec connector products for the electronics and communications industries.

Conec designs and manufactures electro-magnetic interference/filter interconnect, water resistant and environmentally sealed, input/output, ATCA, Compact PCI, DIN, radio frequency and fiber optic interconnect products. Arrow has had an agreement to distribute Conec's products in Canada for the past nine years.

Meanwhile, Digi-Key announced that it has signed a global distribution agreement with semiconductor maker Catalyst Semiconductor Inc. under which the distributor will offer Catalyst's analog, mixed signal and non-volatile memory products.

Catalyst Semiconductor products stocked by Digi-Key are featured in its print and online catalogs and are available for purchase directly from Digi-Key. Digi-Key said that the new distribution agreement will allow it to fulfill both the prototype and production quantity requirements of its customers.

Arrow and Digi-Key ranked second and fifth, respectively, in Electronic Business' latest annual ranking of the  top 25 North American electronic component distributors.