Design Engineers Polled: Avnet Is Most Often Visited Distributor Web Site in U.S. and Europe.

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 1999--According to a global survey of electronic design engineers conducted by EDN Magazine, Avnet, Inc.'s Web site is accessed at least once a week by 40 percent of the U.S.-based engineers polled. Avnet's Web site took the top position over four of its peers' sites and is visited by five percent more engineers than the Web site of the second most accessed electronics distributor.

"We are delighted by the EDN survey results. This is the second U.S. survey where we've received top honors in 12 months," said Steve Church, president of Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. According to Church, Avnet's Web site ranked first in Electronic Buyers' News' (EBN) Annual Preferred Distributor Study in 1998. "We know that EBN readers are mainly involved in purchasing, and we know that design engineers and purchasing managers work in tandem; hence, these separate surveys show that people from both functions are actively using our Web site. We're proud of our Web management team and the hard work they've done to continuously improve the content and design of our site. We also recognize our supplier partners, who work closely with us to keep their product information current," Church said.

In Europe, the survey reveals, Avnet's Web site is accessed at least once a week by 29 percent of the engineers polled, again winning top distributor position by 5 percent.

Avnet's Web site is rated fifth by Asian engineers. According to the survey, Avnet's Web site is visited by 12 percent of Asian-based engineers at least once per week. Twenty one percent of Asian engineers surveyed visited the top-rated distributor site at least once weekly. "We are pleased to make the list of top five in Asia, where our presence is not fully established," said Brian Hilton, president of Avnet Electronics Marketing Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)/Asia. "With both European and Asian engineers accessing our Web site, the future of global electronic business seems promising, and the Web may prove to be a tool that sets us apart from our peers," Hilton added.

"The survey results were interesting," said EDN's Electronics Group research director, Susan Mulcahy. "For Avnet to come out on top of the distributor rankings by design engineers in the U.S. and Europe means that its Web site provides the information they need," Mulcahy added.

According to the survey, 69 percent of the engineers polled use distributor sites on the Internet to access pricing; 66 percent use them to gain technical information. Fifty three percent access distributor sites for data books, 38 percent for technical services, 38 percent for company information, 37 percent for contact names and telephone numbers and 28 percent to make transactions.

The survey, "Worldwide Use of the Internet," is available from Cahners Publishing's EDN Magazine, Newton, Mass. Some of the survey results were published in the Electronics Industry Yearbook, published by Cahners Electronics Group, Newton, Mass.

EDN is a bi-weekly trade publication circulated to 136,000 electronic design engineers and design engineering managers worldwide.

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., is a Fortune 500 company with annual sales exceeding $5.9 billion. Avnet markets, inventories and adds value to semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components, RF/microwave products, OEM systems and computer equipment for industrial and military equipment customers worldwide.