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| Gartner Dataquest Preliminary Statistics Show 2001 as the Worst Year in the History of the Semiconductor Industry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SAN JOSE, Calif., December 19, 2001 - Semiconductor vendors have struggled through the worst industry decline in the history of the market, as 2001 worldwide semiconductor revenue declined 33 percent to $152 billion, according to preliminary statistics by Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). All of the top 10 semiconductor vendors experienced revenue declines ranging from 19 percent to 49 percent (see Table 1).
"The entrepreneurial model of building and investing in new technology went bust in 2001. A downturn of this magnitude will be difficult for many companies to recover from in 2002," said Mary Olsson, chief analyst for Gartner Dataquest's worldwide semiconductor group. "As is evident in the sizeable declines by most of the top vendors, the industry has undergone tremendous destabilization. We expect further consolidation of the industry during 2002." Table 1 Preliminary Top 10 Worldwide Semiconductor Vendors by Revenue Estimates (Millions of U.S. Dollars)
Note **: In some cases, such as Infineon's, Gartner Dataquest's vendor estimates differ from those publicly reported by a company as it is Gartner Dataquest policy to include or exclude revenue associated with acquired or divested companies or business units for the whole calendar year, regardless of when the acquisition or divestment took place. Source: Gartner Dataquest (December 2001) NEC experienced the strongest decline as its 2001 revenue dropped almost 50 percent from 2000. Gartner Dataquest analysts said this was attributed to the shift in NEC's DRAM revenue to Elpida, the Hitachi/NEC joint venture DRAM company, as well as declining product revenue, including ASIC/ASSPs. In spite of the difficult economic situation, semiconductor production for digital consumer products, such as DVDs, digital cameras and game consoles, was good this year compared to other applications. "While 2001 has been the worst year ever for the industry, start-ups continue to emerge and some companies continue to invest in wireless data, networking, and wireless interactivity. These markets will become the growth drivers during the next five-years and beyond," Olsson said. "Thus, in spite of the serious nature of the downturn, the industry has kept an eye on the future." Additional information is available in the Gartner Dataquest Alert "Preliminary Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share Ranking, 2001." This provides preliminary rankings for the top 20 companies worldwide as well as the top 10 vendor in the Americas, Europe and Japan. This research is produced by Gartner Dataquest's Semiconductors Worldwide group. This research group combines memory, microcomponents, logic, ASIC, analog, discrete device, RF and optical segments into a complete industry picture. Products, suppliers, startups, technologies, regional consumption, applications and emerging technologies are all covered in this broad program. More information about Gartner Dataquest semiconductor programs and reports can be found in the Gartner Semiconductor Focus Area at http://www.gartner.com/1_researchanalysis/focus/semimkt_fa.html. To subscribe to this service, please call 408-468-8000. Reports can be purchased on the Internet at www.gartner.com. Gartner Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the high-technology and financial communities with market intelligence for the semiconductor, computer systems and peripherals, communications, document management, software, and services sectors of the global information technology industry. Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 11,000 clients understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's divisions consist of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Measurement and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner, Inc. is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and consists of 4,300 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in more than 90 locations worldwide. The company achieved fiscal 2001 revenue of $952 million. For more information, visit www.gartner.com. |
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Contact: Tom McCall 408-468-8312 tom.mccall@gartner.com |
