As expected
The total worldwide revenue for semiconductor companies has been estimated by market researcher Gartner to decline by $12 billion - 4.4 percent - to $261.9 billion in 2008.
Gartner research VP Andrew Norwood warned that he doesn't think the worst is over. "In the last quarter of 2008, market conditions deteriorated significantly, and as the fourth quarter has progressed, many vendors have issued updated guidance for the quarter, reflecting weakening market conditions," he said.
"Unfortunately for vendors, 2009 is going to be considerably worse. Some have compared the precipitous decline in semiconductor demand to that of the 2001 ‘dot-com' bubble. However, unlike 2001, this economic downturn is much more broad-based and not limited primarily to the technology sector.
"Given this increased uncertainty, all semiconductor companies should be focused on cash preservation and inventory management," Norwood continued. "While gross margin for IDMs (integrated device manufacturers) will show significant declines owing to under-utilized factories, focusing on inventory now should help the recovery when demand returns. This is also an excellent opportunity for the larger companies with stronger balance sheets to make strategic acquisitions."
Such as Intel? The chip giant retains the number one spot and, if you allow for the spin-off of its NOR flash memory business, managed growth of 6.5 percent.
Here's the top ten, note that many of the biggest fallers are heavily exposed to the DRAM market, where prices have been dropping rapidly.
Top 10 Preliminary Worldwide Semiconductor Vendors by Revenue Estimates (Millions of U.S. Dollars)
2008 |
2007 |
Company |
2008 Revenue |
2008 Market Share (%) |
2007 Revenue |
2007-2008 Growth (%) |
1 |
Intel |
34,187 |
13.1 |
33,800 |
1.1 |
|
2 |
2 |
Samsung Electronics |
17,900 |
6.8 |
20,464 |
-12.5 |
3 |
3 |
Toshiba |
10,510 |
4.0 |
11,820 |
-11.1 |
4 |
4 |
Texas Instruments |
9,792 |
3.7 |
11,768 |
-16.8 |
5 |
6 |
STMicroelectronics |
9,652 |
3.7 |
9,966 |
-3.2 |
6 |
5 |
Infineon Technologies (incl. Qimonda) |
8,078 |
3.1 |
10,194 |
-20.8 |
7 |
8 |
Renesas Technology |
7,849 |
3.0 |
8,001 |
-1.9 |
8 |
11 |
Qualcomm |
6,463 |
2.5 |
5,619 |
15.0 |
9 |
7 |
Hynix Semiconductor |
6,400 |
2.4 |
9,100 |
-29.7 |
10 |
12 |
NEC Electronics |
5,889 |
2.2 |
5,593 |
5.3 |
|
|
Others |
145,180 |
55.4 |
147,586 |
-1.6 |
|
|
Total |
261,900 |
100.0 |
273,911 |
-4.4 |
Source: Gartner (December 2008)