AMD drops off Top 10 as poor yearly sales hit

AMD’s ongoing troubles have resulted in the chipmaker falling out of the Top 10 Semiconductor rankings, just a year after breaking into the Top 10 for the first time.
In contrast, its arch-rival Intel has had a sterling year, reclaiming the ground it lost to AMD in 2006, according to iSuppli’s preliminary 2007 global semiconductor market share estimates.
AMD has slipped to 11th place as its sales for the year are expected to decline by a significant 22.7 per cent. It was the eighth largest semiconductor manufacturer in 2006, but has suffered poor sales throughout 2007. The company’s semiconductor turnover in 2007 is set to fall to $5.8bn (£2.8bn), down from $7.5bn in 2006.
Intel, on the other hand, has turned in a very strong 2007, retaining its number one spot with a market share of 12.5 per cent, up from 12.1 per cent in 2006. Intel’s chip turnover is expected to rise
7.7 per cent this year to $33.9bn, against $31.5bn in 2006. The company also exceeded the overall semiconductor industry growth rate of 4.1 per cent in 2007.
“Throughout most of the year, Intel successfully defended much of the market share that it won from AMD in the first quarter in the PC microprocessor segment, due to the success of its lines of dual- and
quad-core chips,” said Dale Ford, vice president of market intelligence at iSuppli.
“This represents a major reversal of fortune compared with 2006, when AMD had the advantage of its popular dual-core microprocessors, allowing it to gain share from Intel.”
Samsung retained its number two spot in the rankings with a 7.4 per cent market share. The firm’s semiconductor revenues are set to increase in 2007 by a modest 1.5 per cent over 2006 to $20.1bn.
In its overall business predictions, Samsung is bullish, claiming that the weak market conditions seen this year will turn around in 2008, especially in the DRam sector where prices are already starting to steady.
The company is predicting it will be making profits of $20bn on turnover of $150bn by 2012, but admitted that steady growth is harder to achieve.
“Samsung Electronics has grown significantly for the past decade,” explained Chu Woo-Sik, senior vice president for investor relations. “But a tough road lies ahead for us to maintain such an expansion over the next 10 years.”
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