Intel, Samsung and Toshiba Continue to Lead Softening World Semiconductor Market

As they have for several years, Intel, Samsung and Toshiba (in that order) remain the world’s top vendors of semiconductors, in a market which is expected to see about 4% growth during 2011. That growth, however, is softer than the robust growth seen in 2010 (though still better than 2009’s dismal performance.)

According to ABI Research semiconductor practice director Peter Cooney, “In the first quarter of 2011 these three firms together controlled 31.6% of the global semiconductor market, a slight increase over their 2010 share. That difference was made up by Intel, which lifted its portion by 2%.”

Periodic, quite significant fluctuations have always been the norm in the semiconductor market, Cooney says. “There may be steady periods, but you can more or less guarantee that every four or five years, the whole market will move quite drastically.”

In addition, the top levels of the market landscape are currently being reshaped by a wave of acquisitions. Intel acquired parts of Infineon; Qualcomm recently completed its acquisition of Atheros, and Texas Instruments is set to acquire National Semiconductor. “These deals,” says Cooney, “will have an impact on quarterly results this year, on the companies’ future directions and product strategies, and probably on the division of market share. The strongest (generally) get stronger and competition increases, which forces the smaller suppliers to become more innovative in order to compete.”

ABI Research has just launched a new Market Data product, “Worldwide Semiconductor Market”, which provides semiconductor vendors with an updated top level view of the worldwide semiconductor market and tracks market shares for the top 20 suppliers. The first (1Q 2011) edition establishes the baselines for measuring this market, and future quarterly releases will provide detailed tracking of these vendors' progress and performance.

It is part of three ABI Research Services: Mobile Device Semiconductors, MEMS, and Wireless Connectivity, which also include other Market Data products, Research Reports, Teardowns, ABI Vendor Matrices, ABI Insights, and analyst inquiry support.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 30+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.​