Intel still semiconductor Bigzilla

Intel has kept its number one place in the chip pecking order in 1999, with a worldwide market share of 15.9 per cent. Sales of semiconductors amounted to $168.7 billion last year, a rise from the previous year of over 21 per cent, a Dataquest survey reveals. But while Intel stayed worldwide top dog, other players shuffled around in the league of top ten players. Japanese firm NEC stayed as number two, while Toshiba knocked Motorola out of the number three slot. The PowerPC player now sits in the number six position. Texas Instruments, ST Micro (formerly SGS Thomsen) and Hitachi all kept their positions in the global marketplace but Infineon - the former Siemens subsidiary - is now number eight globally, while Dutch firm Philips dropped to number ten in the league table. The memory market grew the most in 1999, with sales surging by over 46 per cent. CPU business stayed stable with a 33 per cent share. ®