July 31, 2007 – Intel, Samsung, and TI remain in their familiar positions atop the list of top global semiconductor suppliers in 1H07 from a year ago, but after that the rankings were entirely redrawn, and more shakeups are on the way, according to an upcoming report from IC Insights.

Biggest jump on the list goes to Qualcomm, which moved up from No. 17 to 13 (and closely behind No.12 Infineon), though it’s still muddling through legal issues with Broadcom. Meanwhile, Sony moved up one spot thanks to internal sales supporting its Playstation 3 gaming console, and NXP rose into the top 10.

TSMC posted the best sales growth (17%) in 2Q of the lot, even as it fell one notch on the list, but its capacity utilization rates were >94% in 2Q and expects to follow with a 15% rise in sales in 3Q.

Heading in the opposite direction was Freescale, falling 7 spots to No.16, largely due to shrinking cell-phone marketshare from its biggest customer Motorola. AMD also fell two spots but showed signs of a comeback in 2Q, noted IC Insights, hinting that it expects AMD to announce “a major manufacturing/foundry deal” later this year.

Also noteworthy on this list is the performance of memory firms (e.g., Toshiba, Hynix, Qimonda, Elpida), which took a beating in sales in 1H07, though all expect better performance in 3Q07 — Toshiba, for example, is planning on 20% sales growth in 3Q.

Look for more changes to this top 20 list in 2H07, IC Insights suggests, as pricing stability returns to DRAM and flash memory, and IC demand surges for high-end cell phones, both in addition to the normal seasonal ramp-up in IC demand. (Plus, only $38M separates chipmakers 12-16 on the list.)

Top 20 semiconductor sales, 1H07
(Revenues in US $B)

1H07 rank……………Company………….1H07……………..2Q07 vs…………….2006 total
(2006 rank)………………………………….. revenues…………1Q07 sales……………sales

1 (1)………………….Intel…………………….15,870……………..-2%………………32,268
2 (2)………………….Samsung………………9248……………..-3%………………19,670
3 (3)………………….TI…………………………..6372………………5%………………13,200
4 (5)………………….Toshiba…………………5759…………….-23%……………….9782
5 (4)………………….ST………………………..4678…………………6%……………….9854
6 (7)………………….Hynix…………………….4567…………….-22%……………….8009
7 (6)………………….TSMC*………………….4179……………..17%………………..9748
8 (8)………………….Renesas……………….3933………………2%…………………7900
9 (10)………………..Sony…………………….3291………………-8%………………..6019
10 (11)………………NXP……………………..2997……………….5%………………..5874
11 (12)………………NEC……………………..2712……………….1%………………..5685
12 (16)………………Infineon………………..2643……………….6%………………..5120
13 (17)………………Qualcomm**…………2626……………..9%…………………4422
14 (14)………………Micron………………….2620………………-9%………………..5520
15 (13)………………AMD…………………….2611……………..12%………………..5649
16 (9)………………..Freescale……………..2605……………..1%…………………6049
17 (18)………………IBM………………………2350………………3%…………………3955
18 (15)………………Qimonda………………2287…………….-23%………………..5413
19 (23)………………Elpida………………….2114……………..-25%………………..3474
20 (19)………………Fujitsu…………………2045………………-5%…………………3858

*Foundry
**Fabless

Source: Company reports, IC Insights