The Scottsdale research firm said the 45% drop in worldwide DRAM revenues during the first half of 2001 played a major factor in the new ranking. The bloodbath in cellular phone and communications ICs also clobbered a number of suppliers--in particular Texas Instruments Inc. and Motorola Inc.

Micron Technology Inc. appears to be one the biggest victims in the current downturn. The Boise, Idaho-based memory maker was the world's 10th largest chip supplier in terms of total sales during the first half of 2000, but Micron completely fell out of the top 10 in the first six months of 2001 because of the sharp drop in DRAM revenues, said IC Insights.

Two other chip giants--Motorola and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.--remained in the top 10, but lost ground in IC Insight's ranking. Motorola was the biggest loser in the top 10, in terms of the percentage drop in sales. Motorola's chip sales fell 30% in the first half of 2001 compared to the same period last year. The second biggest percentage loser was Texas Instruments, which saw its semiconductor revenues fall 22%, and Intel was third with a decline of 20% in the first half of 2001 (see table below).

And there are also some other major surprises. STMicroelectronics vaulted from seventh to fourth place with its chip sales only falling 2% in the first half of 2001, according to IC Insights. Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp. cracked the top 10 with a six-month sales total of $2.38 billion, said the research firm.

The first three positions in the worldwide top 10 semiconductor ranking remained unchanged from a year ago with Intel, Toshiba, and NEC holding the No.1, 2 and 3 positions. Not surprisingly, Intel Corp. was far out in front of No. 2 Toshiba with chip sales of $11.085 billion in the first half of 2001, according to IC Insights. Toshiba had $4.670 billion in chip sales, while NEC came in with $4.405 billion for the first six months of 2001.

Mitsubishi, which was in 13th place last year, broke into the top 10 ranking primarily due to the drop of other chip suppliers, according to IC Insights.

First Half 2001 Semiconductor Scorecard

Rank in 1st half	Rank in 2000	Company	1st half 2001	1st half 2000	% change
1	1	Intel	$11.085 billion	$13.855 billion	-20%
2	2	Toshiba	$4.670 billion	$5.010 billion	-7%
3	3	NEC	$4.405 billion	$4.960 billion	-11%
4	7	STMicro	$3.508 billion	$3.579 billion	-2%
5	5	TI	$3.295 billion	$4.215 billion	-22%
6	4	Samsung	$3.255 billion	$3.925 billion	-17%
7	8	Hitachi	$2.980 billion	$3.360 billion	-11%
8	6	Motorola	$2.733 billion	$3.900 billion	-30%
9	9	Infineon	$2.648 billion	$3.240 billion	-18%
10	13	Mitsubishi	$2.380 billion	$2.690 billion	-12%
Source: IC Insights Inc.