Intel, TI, and Toshiba have been part of the Top 10 ranking since 1985, says IC Insights.
Although technology has advanced at a fantastic rate since 1985, the names and number of companies manufacturing semiconductors has changed greatly.
Beginning in 1985, NEC held the No. 1 slot with sales of $2.1bn. Four other Japanese companies were ranked among the top 10. By 1990, Japanese semiconductor companies occupied the top three positions, led by NEC, which more than doubled its semiconductor sales over the five-year span to $4.8bn. Six Japanese companies were represented among the top 10 semiconductor suppliers in 1990—a figure that has not been matched by any country/region since.
By 1995, Intel was the largest semiconductor supplier. (IC Insights’ records show that Intel became the No.1 semiconductor supplier in 1993 and has remained firmly entrenched in that position ever since.)
Also in 1995, South Korean semiconductor players made their presence felt as Samsung and Hyundai (now Hynix) appeared in the top 10 list.
No European companies were present among the top 10 suppliers in 1995. Total semiconductor sales for the top 10 climbed to $86.3bn, an increase of 171% from 1990.
European suppliers made a strong comeback with the three big players—ST, Infineon, and Philips—appearing among the top 10. In 2000, the top 10 semiconductor players had sales of $108.1bn, a 25% increase from five years earlier.
In 2006, Intel was again firmly in control of first place. Meanwhile, Samsung and NEC were headed in opposite directions in the rankings.
Samsung had climbed to the No.2 position, a remarkable ascension in a little over a decade, while NEC fell to the No.10 position and would later fall from the top 10 ranking altogether.
For 2011, IC Insights counts five U.S. companies, two South Korean firms, one European, and one Japanese company among the top 10 semiconductor suppliers.
Intel will hold the No.1 supplier ranking in 2011 for the 18th consecutive year. Only TI has beaten that with 25 consecutive years in the top slot.
Besides Intel, the top 10 supplier list for 2011 features several leading memory suppliers, and two of the world’s largest fabless companies — Broadcom and Qualcomm — each a major player in chips used in communication applications.
The top 10 suppliers are forecast to have sales of $167.1bn in 2011, a gain of about 12x since 1985.
TSMC is not included in this market ranking since the double counting would mislead in determining marketshare.
‘When we consider the total semiconductor market or market by product type, foundry sales are excluded to get a truer picture of the market,’ says IC Insights, ‘however, TSMC, the world’s largest foundry, would have been ranked as the No.6 supplier in 2006 with sales of $9.7 bn and would be ranked No.3 in 2011 with forecast sales of $14.7 bn.’
Through all the cycles, upheavals, management changes, restructuring, economic booms and busts, new gadgets introductions, and new manufacturing technology that has come and gone since 1985, three companies—Intel, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba—have consistently been ranked in the top 10.
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