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DECEMBER 4, 2002 RELEASE

Release

Top Ten Wireless Communications IC Suppliers
TI and Qualcomm sales surge in 2002

Scottsdale, Arizona --- December 4, 2002 --- As part of its new Emerging IC Markets Report, 2003 Edition, IC Insights released its forecast of the 2002 worldwide top ten wireless IC suppliers (Figure 1). The $19.9 billion 2002 wireless IC market includes sales into cellular phones, cellular basestation equipment, and “other” wireless systems. The “other” wireless segment includes cordless phones, wireless networks (e.g., Bluetooth, 802.11, etc.), and global positioning systems (GPS).

Although the total 2002 communications systems market is forecast to decline 14 percent as compared to 2001, not all of the sub-segments are forecast to drop. In 2002, cellular handset sales are forecast to show a small 2 percent increase in dollar volume while the “other wireless” segment is forecast to show a moderate 6 percent increase.

Figure 1

IC Insights believes that the cellular handset IC market will represent 67 percent of the total wireless IC market in 2002. The wireless IC market grew 59 percent in 2000 but declined 33 percent in 2001 (the same decline as the total IC market). For 2002, the wireless IC market is expected to register a 6 percent increase, three times greater than the 2 percent growth rate forecast for the total IC industry.

Over the past few years, TI has dedicated itself to be the leading IC supplier to the wireless communications systems industry and in particular the cellular handset market. The company has expanded its product portfolio to target the cellular handset market. TI supplies not only advanced and highly integrated DSPs, but analog baseband devices, power management components, and small-signal and RF analog ICs.

In 2001, TI lost its number one wireless IC supplier ranking to Motorola. However, with a forecasted 37 percent surge in the 2002 wireless DSP market, coupled with TI’s dominance in this segment, TI is again expected to hold the number one position (just ahead of a surging Qualcomm and its CDMA chipset sales).

Motorola is forecast to show good growth (9 percent) in the wireless IC market in 2002. It appears that the company’s decision to sell complete cellular phone solutions (including ICs, software, and design technology) to non-Motorola handset producers is paying off in increased wireless IC sales.

With Intel’s core MPU business slowing on the heels of a lackluster PC market, the company is dedicating a tremendous amount of resources to target the DSP and logic portions of the cellular phone IC market. However, in 2002, over 80 percent of Intel’s wireless IC sales are expected to come from its flash memory devices.

In mid-2002, Infineon purchased Ericsson’s IC business for about $400 million dollars. IC Insights believes that once this business is fully incorporated into the Infineon portfolio, the company may move into the top five ranking of wireless IC suppliers.

About IC Insights

IC Insights, Inc., based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is dedicated to providing high-quality, cost-effective market research for the integrated circuit industry. Founded in 1997, IC Insights offers coverage of global economic trends, IC market forecasts, capital spending and fab capacity trends, product market details, and technology trends, as well as complete IC company profiles and evaluations of emerging markets for ICs.