TOKYO – Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. are poised to join the ranks of the world’s top 10 chip makers this year, research firm iSuppli said on Tuesday.
Advanced Micro’s semiconductor revenues for 2006 are expected to nearly double to $7.47 billion on microprocessor sales and its acquisition of ATI Technologies in October. That would boost its ranking to No. 7 from No. 15 in 2005, iSuppli said.
Revenues at South Korean memory chip maker Hynix are likely to rise 32.5 percent to $7.37 billion on sales of computer memory and NAND flash memory, pushing it up three places to the No. 8 slot, it said.
The rankings of the top three chip makers are likely to remain unchanged, with Intel Corp. in the lead, followed by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Texas Instruments Inc. and Toshiba Corp.
Except for Toshiba and new entrants Renesas Technology and Elpida Memory Inc., however, Japanese manufacturers are set to lose ground this year, according to iSuppli.
NEC Electronics Corp. is expected to slide to No. 11 from No. 8, while Sony Corp.’s ranking will likely fall two places to No. 15. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will fall to No. 17 from No. 14, and Rohm Co. Ltd. will slip to 22nd place from 18th.
Established Japanese chip makers are losing ground to competitors even as iSuppli expects the global chip market to expand by 9 percent in 2006 from a year earlier, with computer memory driving sales.
Renesas, a microchip maker, is expected to come in sixth place, up from seventh, while dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) maker Elpida is likely to rise to No. 20 from No. 28, iSuppli said.
Fuente: Reuters
