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To: Paul Engel who wrote (86837)	8/12/1999 10:58:00 PM
From: Paul Engel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Intel Investors - Intel holds a "small lead" in the World Semiconductor rankings. Their sales - in H199 - were nearly 3 times that of their closest rival (NEC). Paul {===================================} Leading chip suppliers shuffle ranks in first half By Robert Lineback, Semiconductor Business News Aug 12, 1999 (11:12 AM) URL: semibiznews.com SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A new ranking of the world's largest semiconductor suppliers shows no changes in the top five chip companies during the first half of 1999, but there were plenty of changes in positions six through 10. The new top 10 ranking from market researcher IC Insights Inc. (Scottsdale, Ariz.) places Intel Corp. at No.1 with $12.1 billion in sales during the first half 1999. NEC Corp. is the second-ranked chip supplier with $4.1 billion in sales, followed by Motorola Inc. with $3.9 billion, Texas Instruments Inc. with $3.6 billion, and Toshiba Ltd. with $3.5 billion. Companies in the second half of the top 10 list played a round of musical chairs in the first six months of this year, swapping positions from last year's ranking, based on estimates by IC Insights. A stronger DRAM market, compared to 1998, gave Samsung Electronics Co. and Infineon Technologies AG a boost in first-half revenues, the research firm said. Philips Semiconductor slipped from No. 7 to No. 10 in the first-half 1999 ranking. World's Top 10 Chip Suppliers Company Sales in first half '99 1st half ranking 1998 ranking Intel $12.050 billion 1 1 NEC $4.130 billion 2 2 Motorola $3.886 billion 3 3 TI $3.556 billion 4 4 Toshiba $3.455 billion 5 5 Samsung $2.650 billion 6 8 Hitachi $2.450 billion 7 6 Infineon $2.390 billion 8 10 STMicroelectronics $2.286 billion 9 9 Philips $2.159 billion 10 7 Source: IC Insights Inc. IC Insights said it does not expect to see significant changes in the top 10 ranking at the end of 1999 despite the likelihood that some semiconductor markets are showing signs of strengthening. During the first half of 1999, IC unit shipments were stronger than expected but average selling prices were weakened by intense competition in the DRAM market and in PC microprocessors, said Bill McClean, president of IC Insights. "Average selling prices were weaker than anticipated but we also saw a bigger ramp up in unit volumes in the first half," McClean said. "Overall, the [total revenue] growth rate was not a surprise - just the mixture of unit and ASP growth was different than expected." IC unit shipments grew by about 9 percent in the first half for the industry while average selling prices were up only 5 percent, he said. In the second half of 1999, McClean said he expects to see stronger growth in average selling prices as manufacturing capacity falls short of demand. "I think the worst is over for microprocessors because Intel has made its point [in fending off competitors in low-end X86 processors] during the first half," he said. "DRAMs are a different situation but we have seen some firming of pricing in this segment." However, in a number of other IC market segments the tide has turned with shortages of devices now driving up ASPs. "Up until four or five months ago, flash memories had not yet recovered, but now there is a shortage and suppliers are trying to increase volume shipments," McClean said. In the silicon foundry business, leading-edge processes are being booked up. "Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was at 65 percent capacity utilization in December 1998 and by June it was 100 percent. That's a big change in just six months," McClean said.

To: Paul Engel who wrote (86837)	8/13/1999 10:35:00 AM
From: dmf	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 186894

Paul: RE: Trillian was formed by Intel and VA Linux (Sunnyvale, Calif.), a maker of Linux-based workstations and servers, and counts Hewlett-Packard Co., Silicon Graphics Inc. and Cygnus Solutions as members. IBM Corp. joined up earlier this week. The group's charter is to prep Linux for the Merced age, making the necessary changes to the kernel so that it will run properly on IA-64 hardware. Paul, where can we get a look at Trillian's charter? I'd like to understand where this is going, especially while we're watching RHAT take off. Will Trillian provide their own support for whatever evolves or will they leave that to someone else? Thanks for this post...and the new rankings. I have a license plate holder that says: Intel, World's No. 1 Chipmaker. It dates from the days when INTC took the lead, not quite as long ago as I bought that old Volvo <g>. Planning on that small piece of hardware NOT getting obsolete for years and years! dmf