Top 20 semicon rankings Q2-09 -- TSMC climbs up, AMD slips down!

Very interesting, isn't it? And I am not surprised! TSMC deserves to move up the top 20 semiconductor companies rankings!! It seems that AMD especially needs to really get its act together.

First, to the rankings. Recently, IC Insights released the list of the top 20 semiconductor sales leaders during Q2-09.Source: IC Insights

In this list, there are four fabless semiconductor companies -- Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek and Nvidia in the top 20, and one foundry -- TSMC, perhaps, emphasizing the growing influence of TSMC as well as the fabless semiconductor companies.

AMD slips! Again?
I had written a couple of posts some time back on AMD and Intel, where the former had commented on the EC ruling on Intel, and also how both were at each other's throats, and had asked the question -- how will all of this help the market?

Well, one hopes that AMD will come back very much stronger in the next quarter, despite its uninspiring guidance for 3Q09, saying that it expects its sales to be "up slightly" from 2Q09.

TSMC, Hynix, MediaTek shine
Coming back to the table, the clear movers are TSMC, and no surprises there, as well as Hynix and MediaTek. In fact, with a little better Q3 performance, TSMC could well move up to the third position, overtaking both Texas Instruments and Toshiba.

Look at the last column -- the 2Q09/1Q09 percentage change -- TSMC has grown by a whopping 93 percent! One other thing! TSMC is reportedly eyeing business opportunities in solar photovoltaics and LEDs in a bid to diversify its revenue channels. Should these happen, expect TSMC to move up higher!

The closest to TSMC in terms of growth are Hynix at 40 percent and Qualcomm at 36 percent, respectively. MediaTek, another impressive mover, grew by 20 percent. Of course, there is Samsung as well, with 29 percent growth.

ST, Micron, Nvidia and NXP have done well too! According to IC Insights, Nvidia replaced Fujitsu in the Q2-09 top 20 rankings. And that brings us to the shakers or those who fared poorly.

Fujitsu, AMD, Freescale slide!
I've already touched upon AMD. Fujitsu cited flash memory and automotive device sales to have suffered immensely this quarter. However, it hopes Q3 will be better and said that customer demand was picking up. So, it could well be back in the Top 20 during Q3.

Yet another slip was in store for Freescale. It slipped from 16th position in 2008 to 18th position during Q1-09, and slid further to 20th position in Q2-09. Perhaps, overdependance on automotives has been its undoing.

An interesting statistic from IC Insights -- Fujitsu, with -9 percent and Freescale, with -2 percent growth, were the only two top-20 companies from Q1-09 to register a 2Q09/1Q09 sales decline!

Wonderful industry guidance
It is heartening to see 19 of the 20 companies registering positive growth this quarter. It won't be improper here to commend IC Insights on its wonderful industry guidance!

In an IC Insights study from late December 2008, it was very vocal in advising firms to adopt a quarterly outlook! It also forecast a significant rebound in the IC market beginning in the third quarter of the year!

IC Insights also stood out by pointing out in early July that H2-09 is likely to usher in strong seasonal strength for electronic system sales, a period of IC inventory replenishment, which began in 2Q09, and positive worldwide GDP growth.

IC Insights had marked 4Q08 as the beginning of the downturn/collapse and Q1-09 as the bottom of the cycle. This quarter (Q2) has largely been a replenishment phase for the inventories. Going by that count, Q3 could well see a true seasonal increase in demand. IC Insights also said that during Q4-09, market growth will mirror the health of the worldwide economy and electronic system sales.

There is light, after all, at the end of the tunnel! Wonder why are the industry folks continue to tell each other -- we still aren't having a good time! Maybe, it is time for them to shed their pessimism and from holding back on investments, and move on to show steely optimism, and indulge in really aggressive buying and selling! After all, work and progress will happen ONLY if you work!!

Top 20 semiconductor suppliers sales surge 21 percent in 2Q09!

USA: The 2Q09 results from the top 20 semiconductor producers illustrate why IC Insights has, since the beginning of this downturn, encouraged its clients to think quarterly about 2009! As shown below, the semiconductor industry continues to move through this silicon cycle very quickly on its way to recovery.

4Q08 — The beginning of the downturn/collapse
1Q09 — The bottom of the cycle
2Q09 — Inventory replenishment phase
3Q09 — Seasonal increase in demand
4Q09 and beyond — Market growth will mirror the health of the worldwide economy and electronic system sales

Over the past few years, much has been said regarding the "maturing" of the semiconductor industry and less volatile cycles. However, IC Insights' new Mid-Year Update to The McClean Report shows that the trend toward a less volatile semiconductor market does not apply when looking at the industry on a quarterly basis.

As shown in Fig. 1, the top 20 semiconductor companies, in total, registered a 2Q09/1Q09 sales increase of 21 percent. This was a 37-point swing compared to the 1Q09/4Q08 results when these same top 20 suppliers endured a sales drop of 16 percent!Source: IC Insights

As discussed in detail in IC Insights' Mid-Year Update to The McClean Report, much of the semiconductor sales surge in 2Q09 was due to inventory replenishment after the severe cutbacks of 4Q08 and 1Q09. However, seasonal demand for electronic systems is forecast to drive 3Q09 semiconductor sales up by at least another 8 percent.

IC Insights continues to forecast a 17 percent decline for the full-year 2009 semiconductor market (the same forecast it presented in December of 2008).

Spurred by the bottoming of the worldwide economy from global recession in 1Q09, the semiconductor market is forecast to continue along its recovery path in the second half of this year and gain further momentum in 2010.

Climbers:
TSMC — As forecast by IC Insights, the world's largest IC foundry almost doubled its sales in 2Q09. In fact, all of the four major pure-play foundries (TSMC, UMC, Chartered, and SMIC) registered very strong 2Q09 sales.

TSMC is expecting another 20 percent increase in sales in 3Q09. Moreover, the company raised its 2009 capital spending budget from $1.9 billion to $2.3 billion, which is good news for the struggling semiconductor equipment suppliers. Considering that the company only spent $390 million in the first half of 2009, a huge jump in spending (to $1.9 billion) is scheduled for the second half of this year!

Hynix — One of the world's largest memory suppliers, Hynix displayed a 40 percent sales surge in 2Q09/1Q09 and replaced AMD in the top 10. The company cited rebounding average selling prices (ASPs) for both flash memory and DRAM as a key boost to its sales figures.

IC Insights expects that memory ASPs will continue to rise in the second half of 2009 and beyond as the severe cutbacks in memory capital spending and facility closures further restrict available capacity.

MediaTek — High-flying fabless IC supplier MediaTek joined the top 20 ranking by jumping six positions in 1Q09. As shown, the company moved up another two spots, to number 17, in 2Q09 with a 20 percent jump in sales.

The company continues to attribute much of its success to the "stay-at-home-economy" driving digital TV IC sales as well as continued strength in its core wireless communications business.

Descenders:
AMD — The second-largest MPU supplier in the world has continued to find that it is no fun to be in competition with the giant Intel! As shown, the company fell out of the top 10 in 2Q09 by barely growing (+0.6 percent), while Intel increased its sales by 12 percent. Moreover, AMD's guidance for 3Q09 was uninspiring, saying that it expects its sales to be "up slightly" from 2Q09.

Freescale — Freescale dropped from being ranked 16th in 2008 to 18th in 1Q09 to 20th in 2Q09 and was one of only two top-20 companies (along with Fujitsu) to register a 2Q09/1Q09 sales decline (-2 percent).

The company is in the midst of a major re-organization (eliminating its cellular phone business) and its fortunes are increasingly influenced by the health of the automotive industry.

Fujitsu — Fujitsu dropped from being ranked 17th in 1Q09 to 22nd in 2Q09 (Nvidia replaced Fujitsu in the 2Q09 top 20 ranking) as its 2Q09/1Q09 sales declined by 9 percent. The company stated that its flash memory and automotive device sales suffered the most in 2Q09.

However, Fujitsu believes that its customers' excess device inventories have now been depleted and that consumer demand is picking up.

MediaTek licenses ARM Mali-400 MP GPU

BANGALORE, INDIA: ARM announced today that MediaTek Inc, a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, has licensed the ARM Mali-400 MP multicore graphics processing unit (GPU) for its system-on-chip (SoC) technology.

A market leader and pioneer in cutting-edge SoC system solutions for wireless communications, high-definition TVs, DVD and Blu-ray products, MediaTek has licensed the Mali-400 MP GPU for its SoC products.

Mali-400 MP technology will enable MediaTek to deliver high graphics performance and graphics rendering with low power consumption. Additionally, the Mali-400 MP multicore GPU provides a level of scalability that enables MediaTek to deliver a range of graphics solutions.

“We have chosen to license ARM Mali technology for its scalability and performance credentials,” said MediaTek. “It is vital that we are able to achieve flexibility in our product portfolio.”

The combination of the ARM processors previously licensed by MediaTek, with the Mali-400 MP GPU demonstrates ARM’s unique position in delivering the market’s widest range of power efficient, easily configurable CPU and graphics IP.

The ARM Connected Community of more than 600 Partners includes a graphics ecosystem of leading silicon Partners, device manufacturers and content providers in the graphics industry.

These partners are working together to bring Mali GPU-enabled mobile phones and consumer devices to market, with the latest in user interfaces, navigation applications, gaming experiences and Web browsing capabilities.

“MediaTek has a strong record of execution and success in the mobile and digital home market place and we are pleased to be working together to deliver the best graphics technology to meet their customers’ needs,” said Lance Howarth, general manager, ARM Media Processing Division. “The scalability of the Mali hardware architecture will enable its use in a vast range of MediaTek consumer SoC products.”

TV IC market experiences seasonal decline in Q1’09

AUSTIN, USA: DisplaySearch’s latest research indicates that the TV IC shipments declined seasonally to 30.8 million units for flat panel TVs in Q1’09, according to its Quarterly TV Electronics Report.

Shipments were down by 4.3 percent Q/Q, but up 11 percent Y/Y. This is in line with seasonal trends and with the maturing of the flat panel TV market as developed markets have completed the switch from CRT TVs.

“Concerns over the economic outlook caused set-makers to slash inventory in 2008,” noted Paul Gray, Director of Europe TV Market Research. “Despite this, sales in developed regions have remained resilient, and there is some inventory re-build to support ongoing market levels.”

DisplaySearch’s results also indicate that continued industry consolidation has resulted in an increased share for top-tier IC vendors. At the same time, the real expansion of the flat panel TV market is now in emerging regions and in price-fighter models in mature markets.

Specifically, Micronas completed the sale of its FRC, Audio and Demod product lines to Trident, with the remainder of its consumer business (including the TV SoC business) ceasing by the end of the year. In addition, NEC and Renesas announced an intention to merge, and AMD’s TV IC business completed its first quarter as part of Broadcom.

Table 1: Top TV System IC VendorsSource: Q1’09 Quarterly TV Electronics Report

Other highlights from the most recent Quarterly TV Electronics Report include
* Mediatek regained some share as seasonal emphasis returned to the North American market and TV set inventories were rebuilt after a cautious end to 2008.
* Growing rapidly, propelled by a shipment surge from LGE and also showing strength in China.
* Samsung also gained share as their in-house customer continues to grow in the TV market. The depreciating Korean won has also made them more competitive against merchant ICs priced in US dollars.

Garmin selects MediaTek GPS chipsets for outdoor navigation devices

HSINCHU, TAIWAN: MediaTek Inc., the leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, announced MT3329, its advanced single-chip all-in-one GPS solution.

This product in mass production has also been integrated by a wide range of Garmin outdoor navigators, the Garmin GPSMAP 60 series. The adoption of MT3329 by Garmin, a world leader in portable navigation, shows MediaTek's ability to deliver superior tracking sensitivity with least power consumption which is vital for Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs).

The MediaTek MT3329 single-chip baseband features -165dBm ultra-high sensitivity with least power consumption of competitive solutions, also the fastest acquisition on the market, designed for mobile navigation devices where rapid time-to-first-fix (TTFF) and superior navigation performance are required. Besides, the MediaTek MT3329 enables the most precise positioning even under slow movements like hiking or mountain climbing, which is ideal for Garmin's outdoor navigators.

In addition, the MT3329 and its associated software set new standards in performance and power consumption in an extremely small footprint, which brings the industry-leading MT3329 GPS performance to the price-conscious and space-constrained mobile devices such as PNDs, outdoor fitness device and cell phones.

"By enabling the best navigation performance in the most economical way, the MediaTek MT3329 allows manufacturers to add GPS functionality to the components and circuit board area of their products at minimal cost," said Shou-Ren Tsai, General Manager of MediaTek's Wireless Connectivity Business Unit.

"MediaTek has now established itself as a technology leader in the GPS chip market with a solution that provides the industry's best tracking sensitivity, lowest average power and most complete portfolio of software, complemented by the company's unique ability to integrate its GPS technology into other mobile chipsets and processors."

GPS technologies have become increasingly important with growing consumer interest in personal navigation devices (PNDs) and a strong desire of cellular service operators to add location-based services to their offerings. As GPS chip solutions become more integrated, and as costs decline, the technology will expand into a whole new range of applications.

Working hand-in-hand with MediaTek, customers are able to take full advantage of the MT3329 solutions. By providing real-time technical support along with the chipsets, MediaTek is able to offer customers a one-stop-shop for all of their positioning technology needs.

Chaos reigns in Top 20 semiconductor company rankings

USA: The global recession and subsequent inventory corrections in the electronic system and semiconductor industries have caused a major shakeup in the 1Q09 top 20 semiconductor company ranking (Fig. 1). As discussed in detail in IC Insights' May Update to The McClean Report, the volatility in the ranking is forecast to continue in 2Q09. Many top semiconductor suppliers are expected to rebound from a weak 1Q09 to register strong double-digit 2Q09/1Q09 sequential sales growth!

Of the top 20 companies in 1Q09, only Intel (#1), Samsung (#2), and Fujitsu (#17) remained in the same positions as they ranked in 2008. Some notable changes to the top 20 ranking are shown below.Climbers:

Qualcomm — The world's largest fabless IC supplier, which focuses on leading-edge cellphone devices, moved from being ranked 8th in 2008 to 6th in 1Q09. IC Insights anticipates increasingly positive news for Qualcomm as high-end cellphone (e.g., smartphone) sales pick up speed throughout 2009.

AMD — Jumped into the top 10 group, moving up three spots from 12th in 2008 to 9th in 1Q09. However, AMD is one of the few top semiconductor companies that has stated it expects 2Q09 sales to be worse than in 1Q09. How long will it stay in the top 10?

MediaTek — High-flying fabless IC supplier MediaTek joined the top 20 ranking by jumping five positions. In fact, MediaTek was the only top 20 semiconductor supplier to register a 1Q09/4Q08 sequential sales increase, a whopping 16% surge! The company attributed part of its success to the "stay-at-home-economy" driving digital TV IC sales as well as continued strength in its core wireless communications business.

Decenders:

TSMC — The largest foundry in the world dropped six positions in the 1Q09 ranking but managed to stay in the top 10. It is well known that fabless IC suppliers are some of the worst offenders with regard to IC inventory builds and burns. With fabless companies representing the bulk of TSMC's sales, the company has been caught in a hellacious two-quarter inventory burn period (4Q08 and 1Q09), with 1Q09 sales 57% less than were registered in 3Q08!

However, the anticipated recovery in TSMC's sales will be one of the most significant rebounds witnessed in the IC industry this year. Using current exchange rates, it is expected that TSMC's 2Q09 sales will be about $2.2 billion, a sequential increase of 89%! Moreover, IC Insights believes that if this level of sales is achieved next quarter, it would serve to rank TSMC as the third largest semiconductor supplier in the world in 2Q09!

NXP and Nvidia — These two companies fell out of the top 20 ranking in 1Q09, with NXP falling from being ranked 15th in 2008 to 21st in 1Q09 and Nvidia dropping from 20th to 22nd. However, IC Insights expects a significant rebound in both of these companies' sales in 2Q09, maybe even enough to put them back into the top 20!

The May Update to The McClean Report examines the top 20 semiconductor company ranking changes in more detail and incorporates company guidance in addition to IC Insights' own estimates to forecast the major ranking changes expected for 2Q09. Moreover, further details on the top 20 semiconductor suppliers as well as an additional 200 suppliers can also be found in IC Insights' Strategic Reviews Online database.

Source: IC Insights

MediaTek adopts Synopsys PrimeTime SI

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Synopsys Inc. announced that MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multi-media solutions, has adopted Synopsys' PrimeTime SI solution for static timing analysis (STA) and signal integrity (SI) signoff.

MediaTek selected the Synopsys PrimeTime SI solution to streamline the signoff flow for its new cutting-edge system-on-chip (SoC) designs targeted at 65nm and below process technologies. In an effort to consolidate signoff tools at its global design centers, MediaTek did a thorough evaluation and selected the Synopsys PrimeTime SI solution because of its simple, widely deployable flow that delivered high performance and accuracy within 5 percent of HSPICE simulation.

"Our leading-edge SoC solutions require a trusted signoff tool that can be easily deployed and supported throughout our global design facilities," said MediaTek. "We selected PrimeTime SI because it is built on the trusted PrimeTime STA foundation and the tool offers comprehensive and accurate signal integrity analysis in a simple, streamlined flow."

PrimeTime SI extends the trusted PrimeTime STA and signoff environment to incorporate crosstalk delay and noise (glitch) analysis using the latest Composite Current Source (CCS) library models. PrimeTime is the leading timing signoff solution and is considered the de-facto standard for high-accuracy static timing analysis with the capacity and performance for 100+ million-instance chips being designed at 65-nm and below.

PrimeTime SI offers a unified approach of signal integrity and timing analysis that delivers a comprehensive and time-efficient method to concurrently analyze noise and crosstalk delay effects on timing. This approach delivers faster results than separate solutions while improving designer productivity by enabling quick debugging of complex timing and signal integrity problems in the same tool to speed design closure.