Avnet is still the leading distributor in North American sales with $6.5 billion in 2001 revenue, down from $9.3 billion the previous year. The company's worldwide sales fell to $10.6 billion, from $12.7 billion the previous year. Avnet's revenues were restated after it acquired Kent in 2001.

Weathering the downturn, Avnet continued to reorganize and reinvent itself to better meet customer demands in 2001.

Last year, Avnet reorganized the company into focused business units to better support its customers and suppliers. During the year, the global distributor also created three new business units. These include Cilicon, a highly technical value-added semiconductor business; Avnet RF & Microwave, a specialist in RF and microwave semiconductors for the wireless industry and Promiere, a fee-for-services online business that offers design, supply chain, inventory optimization and exchange services through various alliances.

Earlier this year, Avnet also made several key executive changes, including the naming of Andrew Bryant as president of Avnet Electronics Marketing, the largest operating group of Avnet.