Chipmakers from Silicon Valley to Tokyo are feeling the pain. Sales have sagged amid slowing personal-computer growth and mounting inventories. Yet escaping the sudden fourth-quarter industry slump, GeneVa-based STMicroelectronics ended the year with a flourish. Revenues grew 48.3% in the fourth quarter, while net profitrnjumped 151%. For the lull year, ST's sales—powered by chips for mobile phones, set-top boxes, smart cards, and flash memories—climbed 55%, nearly double the industry average. That propelled the $7.8 billion company up two notches, to No.7, in a worldwide ranking by San Jose (Calif.)-based market researcher Dataquest Inc.
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