Samsung now 5th in semiconductor sales

Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Electronics Industries saw their global rankings in semiconductor sales jump.

IC Insights, a market survey firm in the United States, released a report July 31 on first-half sales by global semiconductor manufacturers. Samsung Electronics` sales soared 48% to US$3.9 billion from the previous year`s US$2.6 billion. In this connection, its sales ranking moved to fifth place from last year`s sixth place. IC Insights forecast that Samsung`s sales for this year would nearly double to US$9 billion.

Hyundai Electronics, whose sales for 1999`s first half amounted to US$1 billion, recorded US$3.4 billion in first-half sales this year, boosting its rank to ninth place from last year`s 15th. It was remarkable to see that the world`s top 10 semiconductor manufacturers included memory chip makers such as Hitachi of Japan and Inpinion of Germany. On the other hand, Micron Technology of the United States, the memory chip producer, failed to be ranked among the top 10 manufacturers. Also, IC Insights forecast that second-half sales in the global semiconductor market would rise about 17% from the previous year, noting that this year`s 12-month sales figure would soar about 35% from 1999.