In a real shocker, Motorola fell from the top 10 rankings in terms of worldwide chip sales for the first half of 2003, according to Scottsdale-based IC Insights.

Motorola has been a fixture in the listing of top 10 semiconductor suppliers ever since the ranking was first compiled, but the U.S. company has recently fallen on hard times amid the current and severe IC downturn.

And how have the mighty fallen. In 1985, Motorola was the third largest semiconductor company in the world, and in 1995, the company held the fifth spot in the top 10 listing.

Meanwhile, Intel Corp. maintained its number one position among the worldwide top 10 semiconductor suppliers, with $12.21 billion in sales for the first half of 2003, up 3 percent over the like period a year ago.

Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. remained in the second spot, with $4.13 billion in sales in the first half, up 6 percent from a year ago.

Japan's Renesas Technology Corp. made the top 10 rankings for the first time. Renesas--the joint chip venture between Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp.--was the world's third largest IC maker in terms of sales in the first half of 2003, according to IC Insights. Renesas had sales of $4.09 billion in the first half, up 14 percent in the like period a year go.

Texas Instruments Inc. remained fourth with $3.8 billion in sales for the first half, up 16 percent over 2002. Japan's Toshiba Corp. retained the fifth spot with $3.66 billion in sales, up 27 percent.

STMicroelectronics Inc. remained in sixth with $3.32 billion in sales, up 15 percent, while Infineon Technologies AG and NEC Corp. switched places in the rankings.

Germany's Infineon jumped from 8th to 7th , with $3.26 billion in sales for the first half of 2003, up 30 percent from a year go. But Japan's NEC fell from 7th to 8th , with $3.04 billion in sales, up 18 percent.

Philips Semiconductors re-entered the top 10 rankings, from the 11th spot to 9th with $2.57 billion in sales in the first half, up 5 percent. And Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), the foundry giant, remained in 10th place with $2.57 billion in sales, up 11 percent.

The real surprise was Motorola. The company's semiconductor sales declined 5 percent to $2.27 billion in the first half of 2003 over the first half of 2002. Its sales were $300 million less than TSMC. In fact, Motorola was the only top-11 semiconductor company to register a 1H '03/1H '02 sales decline.

By: DocMemory
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