Electronics Production |
Wireless and Memory Chip Suppliers Shine in 2004
Leading semiconductor suppliers offering memory and wireless devices dramatically outperformed firms focused on other products in 2004, according to final annual semiconductor rankings from iSuppli Corp.'s Competitive Landscaping Tool (CLT) service.
Top semiconductor suppliers that derive much or most of their revenue from sales of memory chips, i.e. Samsung, Infineon, AMD/Spansion and Hynix, expanded their revenue by rates ranging from 29.1 to 58 percent in 2004. Others-including Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Infineon, Philips Semiconductors, Freescale Semiconductor, Qualcomm, Analog Devices and Sharp Electronics-received major boosts in revenue due to their participation in the wireless market.
Sales of memory chips surged by 43.5 percent in 2004 as DRAM prices remained strong and demand boomed for flash devices used in wireless and consumer-electronics applications. Meanwhile, due to the continuing boom in mobile phone sales, wireless represented the fastest-growing application market for semiconductors in 2004, with revenues growing by 31.2 percent for the year.
Infineon in 2004 became a member of the top-five semiconductor supplier club, rising from number seven in 2003 to number four in 2004 with growth of 29.1 percent. The German semiconductor supplier was number eight in the rankings in 2001 and has been on a consistent path of market-beating growth for the last three years.
Analog Devices was the only new member of the top-20 club in 2004, with its rank moving up from number 22 in 2003.
