Thief River Falls-based Digi-Key Corporation announced Friday that it has surpassed $1 billion in worldwide sales for 2010.

The company, which distributes electronic components, said that it anticipated reaching the milestone in 2010, but the achievement came ahead of schedule.

Digi-Key was on track to reach $1 billion in sales in 2008 before the global economic recession caused sales to decrease in the second half of the year.

Despite challenges associated with the economic downturn and a nearly 6 percent decrease in 2009 sales, Digi-Key said it gained market share due to some of its publicly held competitors experiencing far greater sales declines.

As of Friday, Digi-Key's worldwide year-over-year sales have increased by more than 75 percent, putting the company's 2010 sales over the $1 billion mark with almost four months of the year still remaining. The company is projected to reach nearly $1.5 billion in worldwide sales by the end of 2010.

“Much of our sales growth can be attributed to Digi-Key's expanding presence online,” Tony Harris, chief marketing officer, said in a statement. Harris said that the company is targeting several initiatives to give its customers resources for product information, education, application, and selection on its Web site.

During the first have of 2010, the company saw the largest sales increases in China (342.76 percent), Romania (256.34 percent), and Slovakia (224.97 percent).

Digi-Key-which offers more than 1.7 million products-is Minnesota's 22-largest private companies based on its 2008 revenue, which totaled $983.4 million. Its 2009 revenue totaled 926.9 million. It was founded in 1972 and has more than 2,000 employees.

-Melissa Loth