April 12, 2012

U.S.-based Companies Held 12 of the Top 25 Fabless Spots in 2011

Twelve fabless suppliers had sales of greater than $1.0 billion as Qualcomm nears $10 billion!

U.S.-based suppliers captured 8 of the top 10 places and 12 of the top 25 positions in the fabless IC supplier ranking for 2011 (Figure 1). Combined, the top 25 fabless IC suppliers represented 80% of the $64.9 billion in fabless IC sales last year, up 4 percentage points from 2010. A listing of the top 103 fabless IC suppliers in 2011 was included in IC Insights' March Update, which is part of the subscription to The McClean Report.

It is worth noting that 2010 was the first year on record that total fabless IC company sales growth did not outperform total IC market growth (a 27% increase for fabless IC companies versus a total IC industry growth rate of 33%). However, fabless IC suppliers were back on track in 2011 as worldwide fabless company IC sales increased 4% as compared to total IC market growth of 1%.

Overall, 15 of the top 25 fabless IC companies outperformed the total 2011 fabless IC sales growth rate of 4% (Figure 2). In fact, eight fabless companies registered double-digit increases in IC sales last year.

China-based Spreadtrum was the star performer among the fabless IC producers last year, logging an amazing 95% sales jump. Spreadtrum supplies baseband processors and highly integrated CMOS RF transceivers for wireless applications with over 90% of its sales to China-based customers. As was shown in Figure 1, Spreadtrum has risen from being ranked as the 67th largest fabless IC supplier in 2009 to 17th in 2011, a jump of 50 spots in only two years!

Spreadtrum and ST-Ericsson are both heavily involved in the cellphone marketplace. In contrast to Spreadtrum, ST-Ericsson’s IC sales dropped 28% in 2011 after declining by 9% in 2010. The difficult times at the company led to a restructuring in March of 2012 and it is rumored that this was a prelude to eventually putting the company up for sale.

The 8 top-25 fabless IC companies that registered double-digit growth in 2011 had combined sales of $20.1 billion, up 29% from their combined sales of $15.6 billion in 2010. Overall, these top eight performers increased their combined sales by $4.5 billion last year as compared to a $2.4 billion increase for total fabless IC company sales in 2011. It is obvious that these eight companies are now prime targets for the IC foundries (e.g., TSMC, GlobalFoundries, UMC, Samsung, etc.).

IC Insights’ April Update to The McClean Report (to be released later this month) is dedicated to IC company rankings and includes the top 50 semiconductor, IC, and fabless IC suppliers. Moreover, the top company rankings of MPU, MCU, foundry, flash memory, DRAM, analog, etc., suppliers will also be provided in the April Update.

Report Details: The McClean Report Subscription and Strategic Reviews

Additional details of the 2012 IC market and its suppliers can be found in the 2012 edition of The McClean Report, IC Insights’ complete market analysis and forecast of the IC industry. Packed with more than 400 tables and graphs, The McClean Report subscription includes free monthly updates by e-mail from March through November (including a 250+ page Mid-Year Report). A single-user subscription to the 2012 edition of The McClean Report is priced at $3,290 and includes an Internet access password. A multi-user worldwide corporate license is available for $6,290.

IC Insights' Strategic Reviews database includes extensive profiles of more than 220 IC companies, including those companies with a fabrication facility as well as fabless IC suppliers. The profiles include financial highlights, company strategy, key personnel, products and services offered, process technologies employed, important strategic alliances, detailed fab data when applicable, and contact information. Over 2,000 hours a year are expended to keep this database current!

An individual-user password to Strategic Reviews is available for $2,890 and is good for access to the database for one full year after the start of the subscription. A multi-user corporate-wide password is available for only $4,590.

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