TSMC cracks top 10 in '02 IC rankings, says IC Insights
By Mark LaPedus
Semiconductor Business News
(01/13/03 06:04 p.m. EST)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--The IC downturn has re-shuffled the rankings in terms of the top 10 semiconductor vendors for 2002--a series of events that propelled Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) on the high-profile list for the first time ever, according to a new report from IC Insights Inc. here today.
TSMC, the world's largest silicon foundry vendor, was ranked as the world's 10th largest chip maker in terms of sales for 2002. The Hsinchu-based company, which is expected to have sales of $4.66 billion in 2002, was ranked 14th with $3.71 billion in sales for 2001, according to the Scottsdale-based research firm.
TSMC is the first Taiwanese chip maker and foundry vendor in IC Insights' top 10 rankings. Ironically, the company's entry into the top ten displaced Philips Semiconductors, which had $4.4 billion in sales for 2002. Philips of the Netherlands is a major shareholder in TSMC, it was noted.
Not all were in agreement, however. The Taiwanese chip maker was not included in other top '02 chip rankings from competitive research firms, including Dataquest Inc. (see Dec. 13, 2002 story ), as well as iSuppli Corp. (see Dec. 11, 2002 story ).
In all rankings, Intel Corp. remained the No. 1 vendor based on worldwide semiconductor revenue in 2002. The company's sales are projected to hit $23.99 billion in 2002, up 1% over 2001, according to IC Insights.
Intel was almost three times the size of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the number two ranked company. In fact, Intel represented about one-third of the total top 10 semiconductor companies sales in 2002.
Korea's Samsung jumped from third place in 2001, to second in 2002. Samsung's sales are projected to hit $8.73 billion in 2002, up 38% over 2001, according to IC Insights. Samsung, along with Infineon Technologies AG, took advantage of a growing DRAM market to help spur their 2002 IC sales increases.
Texas Instruments Inc. fell from second to third place in 2002, as it is projected to have $6.5 billion in sales in 2002, up 1% over 2001. STMicroelectronics Inc., Toshiba Corp., and NEC Corp. remained in fourth, fifth, and sixth place, respectively, in 2002, compared to 2001.
Germany's Infineon jumped from ninth to seventh place, while Hitachi Ltd. remained in the eighth spot. In 2003, a major re-alignment of the Japanese semiconductor industry will continue with Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric Corp., the third and fifth largest Japanese IC suppliers, respectively.
Last year, the two companies formed a joint venture called Renesas Technology Corp. This new company will begin operations with about $8.3 billion in semiconductor sales, which would have ranked it as the world's third largest semiconductor company in 2002.
Meanwhile, Motorola Inc. fell from seventh place in 2001, to ninth place in the rankings, according to IC Insights.
Top 10 Chip Suppliers in 2002
2002 rank 2001 rank Supplier 2002 sales 2001 sales % change
1 1 Intel $23.99 billion $23.70 billion 1%
2 3 Samsung $8.73 billion $6.32 billion 38%
3 2 TI $6.50 billion $6.41 billion 1%
4 4 STMicro $6.35 billion $6.30 billion 1%
5 5 Toshiba $5.88 billion $5.68 billion 4%
6 6 NEC $5.53 billion $5.32 billion 4%
7 9 Infineon $5.36 billion $4.56 billion 17%
8 8 Hitachi $4.90 billion $4.83 billion 1%
9 7 Motorola $4.76 billion $4.94 billion -4%
10 14 TSMC $4.66 billion $3.71 billion 26%
Source: IC Insights |
