SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2000--The worldwide semiconductor market posted record results with 1999 revenue totaling $168.6 billion, a 22 percent increase over 1998 revenue of $138.7 billion, according to final results from Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). Semiconductor revenue in 1999 broke the previous record of $151.3 billion achieved in 1995. The memory segment experienced the strongest growth, as it increased 41 percent over 1998 revenue.
"The memory market made a big comeback fuelled by the revival in DRAM, which grew 46 percent in 1999, and the shortage of flash capacity," said Joe D'Elia, Director of Dataquest's European Semiconductor Research. "Flash undercapacity became apparent in the first quarter of 1999, and the rest of the year saw many manufacturers scramble to add capacity by converting older DRAM and logic fabs to augment their meager flash capacity."
Because of the many mergers and divestments that took place in 1999, some vendors posted growth figures that appeared unusual. Motorola experienced a revenue decline of 9.8 percent because of the divestment of ON Semiconductor, while Hyundai's revenue grew 168.5 percent because of its merger with LG Semicon (see Table 1).
Table 1 See Next post
"Continued expansion of the communications network including the Internet also means high growth for product segments like digital signal processors (DSP), application specific standard products and optical semiconductors," said Ron Bohn, director of research for Dataquest's semiconductor group.
The Americas region continued to lead the industry, as it accounted for 32.8 percent of semiconductor revenue in 1999. Asia/Pacific was the No. 2 region with 25 percent of the market, followed by Japan with 22.4 percent, and Europe with 19.8 percent.
Asia/Pacific posted the strongest growth with a revenue increase of 32.7 percent in 1999. Japan grew 24.7 percent, followed by the Americas with 18.3 percent, and Europe with 12.6 percent.
Additional information on this market is available in the Dataquest Alert "Final 1999 Semiconductor Market Share: It was a Very Good Year!" This report provides final top 20 1999 semiconductor rankings worldwide. This Alert also shows revenue by semiconductor product category and region.
This report is produced by Dataquest's Semiconductors Worldwide program. This program combines memory, microcomponent, logic, ASIC, analog, discrete device, RF, and optical segments into a complete industry picture. Products, suppliers, start-ups, technologies, regional consumption, applications, and emerging technologies are all covered in this broad program.
To purchase the report or subscribe to this program, please call 800-419-DATA, or 408-468-8009. More information about Dataquest's programs, descriptions of recent research reports, and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at dataquest.com. |
