December 10, 2007 – The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA — nee the Fabless Semiconductor Alliance), has handed out top marks to fabless industry participants at its annual awards ceremony.

Categories included “most respected” private, emerging public, and public fabless companies, in terms of products, vision, and future opportunities. Winners, respectively, were Inphi, Atheros Communications, and Nvidia.

The GSA and financial analysts also evaluated the financial health of fabless industry to come up with other award categories, including “best financially managed company” (MediaTek). Two firms, Sigma Designs and Techwell, were honored for “outstanding financial performance,” doubling either revenue or profits for eight consecutive quarters (ended in June).

Two analysts gave their picks for “favorite fabless” companies, based on historical data: Arnab Chanda of Deutsche Bank Securities chose Broadcom, while Mark Lipacis of Morgan Stanley selected Cavium Networks.

SiBeam was named “fabless startup to watch” by the GSA’s Venture Capital Advisory Council, under the criteria of demonstrating “the potential to positively change its market or the semiconductor industry in general through the innovative use of or a new application for semiconductor technology.”

Finally, Gordon Campbell, executive director of TechFarm Ventures, received the Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award, recognizing contributions to drive development, innovation, growth, and long-term opportunities for the fabless semiconductor industry.