Monday March 27 5:11 PM ET
World Semiconductor Revenues Hit
Record
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - Revenues for the worldwide
semiconductor industry grew 22 percent in 1999, exceeding
the growth rate previously indicated by preliminary data and
breaking the record revenue level set in 1995, according to an
industry report issued on Monday by Dataquest Inc.
Semiconductor revenues reached a record level of $168.6
billion, up from $138.7 billion in 1998, according to final
survey results from the research group, which is a unit of
Gartner Group Inc. (NYSE:IT - news).
Revenues in 1999 broke the previous record of $151.3 billion
set in 1995.
The growth rate of revenues for 1999 increased from the level
reported in January, when Dataquest put out preliminary
results showing that the semiconductor market grew nearly 18
percent to $160.1 billion.
Growth is being driven by the
increasing demand for
Internet-related
communications devices along
with increased demand for
DRAM chips. DRAM, or
dynamic random access memory, chips are primarily used in
the main memories of computers.
The memory segment experienced the strongest growth,
increasing 41 percent over 1998 revenues, Dataquest said.
``The memory market made a big comeback, fueled by the
revival in DRAM, which grew 46 percent in 1999, and the
shortage of flash capacity,' Joe D'Elia, director of Dataquest's
European Semiconductor Research, said.
The shortage of capacity for flash memory, which is used in
small, hand-held appliances such as cell phones and personal
Internet access appliances, became apparent in the first
quarter of 1999.
The remainder of the year saw many manufacturers attempt to
add capacity by converting older DRAM and logic facilities to
augment their meager flash capacity, D'Elia said.
Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news), which is known for
its PC-based chips, remained in the No. 1 industry position
with revenues of $26.8 billion, $1 billion more than preliminary
data had indicated and up from $22.8 billion in 1998.
Intel's revenues were nearly three times those of the
semiconductor operations of No. 2 NEC Corp. (6701.T) of
Japan, which had $9.2 billion in revenues, unchanged from
preliminary data and up from $7.9 billion in 1998. Intel had
15.9 percent of the market and NEC had 5.5 percent.
Dataquest's Asia/Pacific region, which excludes Japan, posted
the strongest growth in revenues, up nearly 33 percent.
Revenue growth was nearly 25 percent in Japan. The
Americas showed just over 18 percent growth and Europe
nearly 13 percent.
The Americas region continued to produce the most revenue,
accounting for yearly 33 percent of worldwide semiconductor
revenue in 1999. Asia/Pacific was No. 2 with 25 percent of
the market, followed by Japan with just over 22 percent and
Europe with nearly 20 percent. |
