Fabless Semiconductor Association Announces 16.2 Percent Worldwide Fabless Revenue Growth in 2003

Public fabless companies totaled $24.2 billion in revenue for the year

SAN JOSE, Calif. (March 17, 2004) – The Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA), the global voice of fabless and hybrid semiconductor companies and their foundry and supply-chain partners, announces worldwide public fabless revenue grew 16.2 percent in calendar year 2003, totaling $24.2 billion.

U.S. fabless companies represented 78 percent of 2003 total fabless revenue, followed by Taiwan, which contributed 18 percent. Europe and Japan each represented two percent, and sales in China and Canada each totaled 0.4 percent.

Five Taiwanese fabless companies placed in the top 20 out of 131 public fabless companies worldwide, when ranked by 2003 revenue.

MediaTek [TSE: 2454] ranked sixth, reporting $1.1 billion
VIA Technologies [TSE: 2388] ranked 11th, reporting $598 million
Sunplus Technology [TSE: 2401] ranked 16th, reporting $325 million
NovaTek [TSE: 3034] ranked 18th, reporting $320 million
Realtek Semiconductor [TSE:2379] ranked 20th, reporting $272 million

“The FSA expanded globally into Asia in 2003 as a result of the significance that these regional fabless leaders have on the semiconductor supply chain and the contribution they make to the industry as a whole,” said Jodi Shelton, co-founder and executive director of the FSA.

In addition to overall 2003 revenue data, the FSA also reports the following Q4 2003 financial results:

Q4 2003 revenue totaled $7.8 billion, a 23.4 percent growth over Q4 2002, and a 13.8 percent sequential growth.
Fabless revenue represented 16.6 percent of total semiconductor industry sales.
Worldwide fabless market capitalization reached $133.8 billion, with 21 percent of all companies having market caps greater than $1.0 billion.
Net income totaled $567 million. The three companies disclosing the highest profit include MediaTek, SanDisk [NASDAQ: SNDK] and Xilinx [NASDAQ: XLNX], reporting $143.5 million, $87.8 million and $69.5 million, respectively.
Fabless companies spent an average of 23 percent on research and development (R&D).

This and more detailed data can be found in the FSA’s new comprehensive Global Fabless Financial Report, which includes fabless earnings information covering: revenue; net income; geographic comparisons; profit margins; market capitalization; R&D; selling, general and administrative expenses; foundry updates; and initial public offering (IPO) and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity. For more information, or to purchase this report, visit www.fsa.org/store.

About the Fabless Semiconductor Association
The FSA is the global voice of fabless and hybrid semiconductor companies and their foundry and supply-chain partners. Incorporated in 1994, the Association (www.fsa.org) is focused on the perpetuation of the fabless business model throughout the worldwide semiconductor industry. The organization encourages the relationship between semiconductor companies and suppliers; facilitates business partnerships; creates awareness of the fabless/outsourced business model; disseminates industry data; and fosters standards and policies.

FSA members include fabless companies, integrated device manufacturers (IDMs), foundry providers, packaging/assembly houses, intellectual property providers, electronic design automation companies, OEMs, photomask companies, design software companies, investment bankers, venture capitalists and other companies. FSA members represent more than 21 countries spanning North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

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