USA: IC Insights' May update to The McClean Report describes the big shakeup in the 1Q08 top 20 semiconductor supplier ranking. There are eight US companies in the top 20 (including three fabless semiconductor suppliers), six Japanese, three European, two South Korean, and one Taiwanese company (IC foundry supplier TSMC) in the ranking.

As shown in the figure, it required at least $1 billion in first quarter sales to make the top 20 ranking. Although the top four ranked companies remained the same, there were a number of "movers and shakers" up and down the remainder of the 1Q08 ranking as compared to their full-year 2007 positions.

Climbers

* Cell phone IC supplier Qualcomm used a 29 percent year-over-year 1Q08 growth rate to jump four spots and rank as the 10th largest semiconductor supplier in 1Q08.

* The third largest fabless supplier, Broadcom, also jumped four positions in the ranking and is now positioned as the 20th largest semiconductor supplier in the world.

* Japanese consumer electronics powerhouse Panasonic (formerly Matsushita) jumped three places and moved into the 19th position in the top 20 ranking.

* NEC moved up two positions in the ranking from 15th to 13th.

* Nvidia, the second-largest fabless supplier, registered a blistering 37 percent year-over-year increase in sales to move into the 18th position in the ranking, up two places from its full-year 2007 rank.

* Moving up one place in 1Q08 were TSMC, Renesas, Sony, and Infineon.

Descenders

* DRAM-supplier Qimonda's nightmare continued in 1Q08 as the company dropped 10 positions from being ranked 19th overall in 2007 to 29th in 1Q08. The company endured a 1Q08/1Q07 sales decline of 52 percent!

* IBM also fell from the top 20 ranking even though its 1Q08/1Q07 sales increased 12 percent. IC Insights estimates the company is now ranked as the 22nd largest semiconductor supplier in the world, down from 18th in 2007.

* Despite a moderate 4 percent 1Q08/1Q07 sales increase, NXP fell three positions in the 1Q08 ranking to 14th from 11th.

* AMD posted a solid 22 percent increase in 1Q08/1Q07 sales, yet slid two positions from 10th to 12th.

* Memory suppliers Hynix (#9) and Micron (#15) each fell two spots in the ranking although Micron showed a 2 percent increase in 1Q08/1Q07 sales, while sales at Hynix dropped 35 percent!

* ST fell one position in the ranking and now occupies the 6th spot. It should be noted that the company's 1Q08 and 1Q07 figures do not include FMG (flash memory group) sales, which are now part of Numonyx's sales. As shown, the company registered a nice 12 percent year-over-year growth rate in 1Q08 and has a relatively positive outlook for its second quarter as well.

Summary
With many of the major DRAM and flash suppliers (e.g., Qimonda, Elpida, Spansion, Powerchip, Nanya, etc.) no longer part of the top 20 ranking, the total 1Q08/1Q07 sales of the top 20 semiconductor suppliers displayed a very strong 11 percent increase as compared to the total worldwide semiconductor market increase of 4 percent.

Among the top 20 semiconductor suppliers, there was a 79-point swing from the fastest growing company (TSMC at +44 percent) to the company showing the steepest decline (Hynix at -35 percent)! Moreover, 14 of the top 20 companies had double-digit 1Q08/1Q07 growth rates, including the top two companies Intel and Samsung, while only two (Toshiba and Hynix) had declines.

As was mentioned in IC Insights' March Update to The McClean Report, currency fluctuations are going to play a big part in the 2008 semiconductor market figures as the strong yen and euro are converted into US dollars.

With the yen increasing in value 13 percent and the euro 14 percent in 1Q08 as compared to 1Q07, many Japanese and European companies' results are getting a "boost" when converted to US dollars. Moreover, it should be kept in mind that this currency effect will also impact the worldwide semiconductor market figures when reported in US dollars this year.