Broadcom and Qualcomm gain amongst 20 IC players

Fabless companies buck economic trend, gain in IC Insights top 20 rankings
Broadcom and Qualcomm lead the way in terms of 2008 year-over-years sales growth, according to IC Insights data.

Even in the worst downturns, some strong companies prevail with double-digit sales increases. According to a new top 20 companies ranking from IC Insights this week, the semiconductor industry suppliers that showed the strongest growth in 2008 were fabless.

Only three of the top 20 companies had double-digit 2008 over 2007 growth rates, two of which were fabless.

In contrast, six companies registered double-digit declines in 2008 semiconductor sales: Freescale and TI both at 10% declines; Sony at an 11% decline; NXP and Renesas both at 12% declines; and Hynix at a 33% decline.

While Intel, Samsung, TI, Toshiba, and TSMC maintained their respective one through five spots based on 2008 sales, by growth two of the top five companies were fabless. Broadcom claimed the largest year-over-year growth rate in 2008 at 20%, followed by Qualcomm at 15% growth.

Ranked by sales, Broadcom climbed from the number 23 slot in 2007 to slot 17 in 2008 and Qualcomm climbed from 13 in 2007 to eight in 2008.

Fabless GPU maker Nvidia also made the ranking, claiming the number 20 spot in 2008.

However, on an 8% sales decline, the company slipped from its 2007 19 slot placement, according to IC Insights data.According to the research house, the total 2008 sales of the top 20 semiconductor suppliers showed a 3% year-over-year decline, matching the total worldwide semiconductor market decline in 2008.

Source: Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News. Electronics New 3 Mar 2009