In 2014, there were only two Japan-based companies – Toshiba and Renesas – among the top-10 semiconductor suppliers. Assuming the NXP/Freescale merger is completed later in 2015, IC Insights has forecast that Toshiba will be the lone Japan-based company left in the top-10 ranking.
Japan-based semiconductor manufacturers wielded their greatest influence on the global stage and held six of the top 10 positions in 1990, IC Insights said. The six Japan-based companies that were counted among the top-10 semiconductor suppliers in 1990 is a number that has not been matched by any country or region since.
The number of Japan-based companies ranked in the top-10 in semiconductor sales slipped to four in 1995, fell to three companies in 2000 and 2006, and then to only two companies in 2014, IC Insights indicated.
"Anyone who has been involved in the semiconductor industry for a reasonable amount of time realizes this is a major shift and a big departure for a country that once was feared and revered when it came to its semiconductor sales presence in the global market," IC Insights noted.