Dataquest: Worldwide Semiconductor Market Grew Nearly 18% In 1999.

For the first time since 1995, the worldwide semiconductor market experienced double-digit growth as 1999 semiconductor revenue surpassed $160 billion, an increase of 17.6 percent over 1998 revenue, according to preliminary results from the Dataquest unit of Gartner Group Inc. "One of the key factors for the industry growth was the firming up of the DRAM market," says Joe D'Elia, chief analyst for Dataquest's Semiconductors Europe program. "The Taiwan earthquake also had an impact on the market, as it forced spot market prices to treble in a matter of days, and although they fell back quite rapidly, once the full effect was known, the main impact was to accelerate the rate of rise of contract pricing."

Intel continued to dominate the market, as its 1999 revenue was $16 billion more than its nearest competitor. Samsung showed the strongest growth among the top 10 vendors, as its 1999 revenue increased nearly 50 percent over 1998 revenue. Motorola was the one top-tier vendor who posted negative growth, although Dataquest analysts said this was because the company divested a major product division and a product line. "All geographies are growing, although the drivers are different for each region. While the Internet has contributed to the increase in most regions, its impact on the Americas has been overwhelming," adds Ron Bohn, director of research for Dataquest's semiconductor group.