Chip sales up 31% in 2000; Toshiba passes NEC as No. 2 supplier
Preliminary ranking by Dataquest shows STMicro growing fastest among Top 10
Semiconductor Business News
(01/02/01 11:29 a.m. EST)
SAN JOSE -- Semiconductor sales increased 31% to $222.1 billion in 2000 from $169.1 billion in 1999 despite a slight slowdown in revenue growth during the final months of the year, according to preliminary estimates released today by Dataquest Inc.
Dataquest's initial 2000 market report also shows Toshiba Corp. overtaking NEC Corp. as the world's No. 2 chip supplier in 2000. For most of the 1990s, NEC had been the world's second-ranked semiconductor company behind Intel Corp., but Toshiba's strong 47.2% growth in chip sales pushed it just slightly ahead of its Japanese rival, said Dataquest.
Toshiba's chip sales reached $11.2 billion in 2000 from $7.6 billion, estimated the San Jose-based research firm. Toshiba was ranked No. 3 in 1999. NEC's semiconductor sales grew 20.3% to $11.1 billion in 2000 vs. $9.2 billion in 1999, Dataquest said (see table below).
While semiconductor sales grew at a strong rate in 2000, Dataquest noted that the chip industry is "having trouble" as it moves into a new year. Slowing shipments of key applications--such as personal computers and cellular phones--coupled with inventory adjustments delayed new orders in the second half of 2000. Some analysts have expressed concern about too much chip capacity coming on stream as demand cools. Most market research firms have chopped their 2001 forecasts for growth to about half of last year's increase, with some analysts calling for just over 10% increase in many key IC segments.
"We are now at the end of the second year of an up cycle and there is despondency regarding the future, as the fourth quarter of 2000 was weak relative to the preceding quarter," said analyst Joe D'Elia, vice president and director of Dataquest's European semiconductor research. "Historically, the industry has gone through inventory corrections during the positive portion of the industry cycle, and we see no reason to believe that this current weakening is anything else other than an inventory correction."
Intel continued distance itself from other chip suppliers in 2000. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company had semiconductor revenues of $29.8 billion in 2000, an increase of 11% from $26.8 billion, according to Dataquest. Intel's sales in 2000 were $18.6 billion higher than Toshiba's revenues in 2000. In 1999, Intel's sales were $17.6 billion higher than NEC.
In the Top 10 ranking, Europe's STMicroelectronics moved up to No. 7 from No. 8 with a 56.5% increase in revenues to $7.9 billion in 2000 compared to $5.1 billion in 1999, Dataquest said. Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd. of South Korea jumped into the Top 10 at No. 9 from No. 11 in Dataquest's preliminary ranking. Hyundai's chip revenues grew 42.6% to $6.9 billion from $4.8 billion, Dataquest estimated. Infineon Technologies AG slipped to 10th place from eighth with sales of $6.7 billion vs. $5.2 billion in 1999.
How top chip makers ranked in 2000
2000 1999 Supplier 2000 sales % increase 1999 sales 2000 share
1 1 Intel $29.750 billion 11.0% $26.806 billion 13.4%
2 3 Toshiba $11.214 billion 47.2% $7.618 billion 5.0%
3 2 NEC $11.081 billion 20.3% $9.210 billion 5.0%
4 4 Samsung $10.800 billion 51.6% $7.125 billion 4.9%
5 5 TI $9.100 billion 27.8% $7.120 billion 4.1%
6 6 Motorola $8,000 billion 25.1% $6.394 billion 3.6%
7 9 STMicro $7.948 billion 56.5% $5.077 billion 3.6%
8 7 Hitachi $7.282 billion 31.1% $5.554 billion 3.3%
9 11 Hyundai $6.887 billion 42.6% $4.830 billion 3.1%
10 8 Infineon $6.715 billion 28.6% $5.223 billion 3.0%
Dataquest
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