Intel retains top spot

Intel Corp. is still top dog on IC Insights Inc.'s annual list of worldwide semiconductor sales leaders. The Santa Clara, CA-based chip maker's 2002 sales of $24 billion were nearly triple those of its nearest competitor—South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.—which posted

Although U.S.-based chip companies dominate the worldwide market in terms of semiconductor sales, Scottsdale AZ-based IC Insights says companies based in the rest of the world (ROW) showed the most growth in 2002. The ROW category—which consists of chip companies from Taiwan, China, Singapore and South Korea—represented about 18% of the world's semiconductor sales— a 3% increase from 2001.

Sales by U.S.-based companies still account for about 50% of the worldwide semiconductor market, which reached $140 billion in 2002. But IC Insights analyst Brian Matas notes that U.S. semiconductor sales have remained flat over the past four years while companies in the ROW category have gained market share. IC production by ROW foundries is expected to increase dramatically over the next few years, driving the ROW share of the worldwide semiconductor market to 25% by 2010. Matas notes that one country to watch is Taiwan, which will soon be listed in its own category instead of being lumped into the ROW market.

In fact, IC Insights notes that for the first time ever, a Taiwanese company was ranked among the world's leading semiconductor companies. Pure-play foundry leader TSMC was ranked 10th on the list with sales of nearly $4.7 billion. That's a 26% increase over 2001 revenue, placing TSMC four spots higher on the list than last year.