JULY 26--Infineon Technologies AG, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) were the rising stars in the IC industry, while Hitachi Ltd. fell from grace, according to the IC Insights Inc. (Scottsdale, AZ; www.insights.com) rankings of the worldwide top-10 semiconductor suppliers for the first half of 2002. For the first time ever, TSMC--or for that matter a silicon foundry--cracked the top-10 chip rankings in terms of worldwide sales. Infineon and Samsung moved up in standing, while Hitachi fell out of the top-10 rankings, according to the market-research firm.
In the rankings, US-based Intel Corp. maintained its number-one position among the worldwide top-10 semiconductor suppliers in terms of sales. In the first half of 2002, Intel's sales were $11.8 billion, up 1% from the same period a year ago.
US-based Texas Instruments Inc. maintained the third spot, but the company watched its sales fall by 14% to $3.282 billion in the first half of 2002 over the like period of 2001.
Europe's STMicroelectronics Inc. remained in fourth place, with $2.885 billion in sales in the first half, down 18% over last year. Meanwhile, Japan's Toshiba Ltd. fell from second to fifth place, as its sales hit $2.875 billion in the first half, down 29% a year ago.
Germany's Infineon went from ninth to sixth place, with $2.503 billion in sales in the first half, down 5% from a year ago. Meanwhile, Japan's NEC Corp. dropped from sixth to seventh with $2.435 billion in sales in the first half, down 25%. And U.S.-based Motorola Inc. went from seventh to eighth with $2.309 billion in sales, down 16% from a year ago.
Making its first appearance in the top 10, TSMC jumped from 15th to the ninth spot with $2.303 billion in sales in the first half of this year, up 15% in the like period a year ago.
Philips Semiconductors of the Netherlands remained in tenth place, with $2.153 billion in sales for the first half, down 16% from a year ago. However, Japan's Hitachi dropped out the top-10 ranking, according to IC Insights.
