Semiconductor Market Grew 40% in ‘95, Survey Says

TOKYO —  The world market for semiconductor chips grew 40% in 1995, topping the $150-billion mark for the first time, a U.S. market research company reported Monday.

The increase is the biggest since 1984, when the world market also grew by 40%, the Japanese arm of Dataquest Inc. said. The market grew about 30% in both ’93 and ’94.

North America and Japan, the world’s dominant chip-making regions, lost small amounts of market share last year to Asia-Pacific countries, Dataquest said.

The North American lead over Japan shrank from 1.2 percentage points to just 0.3 percentage point.

The global share claimed by North American chip makers, led by Intel Corp., slipped from 41.7% to 39.8%; Japan’s share dropped from 40.5% to 39.5%.

Asia-Pacific chip makers boosted their combined market share from 8.9% in 1994 to 12.1% in ’95.

The phenomenal growth in the world market for semiconductors was led by strong sales of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips, which are used in electronic products such as personal computers and telecommunications devices.

Intel stayed in the top revenue position for the fourth straight year. Its sales for the year totaled $13.8 billion, up 37% from 1994. Companies concentrating more on DRAM chips saw stronger growth, however. Samsung of South Korea’s sales rose 73% to $8.3 billion.

The Dataquest survey of 160 companies covered sales through October 1995 and included market estimates for November and December.