Gartner Dataquest Report Shows Infineon Technologies Gains Market Share for Security and Chip Card ICs in Tough Market Year; 50 Percent of Chip Cards Shipped Worldwide in 2001 Contained an Infineon IC

Apr 25, 2002 | Market News

Munich, Germany – April 25, 2002 – Gartner Dataquest’s 2001 chip card integrated circuit market study reports that Infineon Technologies increased its share of the worldwide market by four percent, with total unit shipments surpassing 51 percent of all chips sold. In terms of revenue, the company increased its share of industry revenues from 34 percent in 2000 up to 38 percent of the US$1.17 billion calendar year 2001 market, which shrank by four percent from the previous year.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that Infineon has achieved the number one ranking in share of the worldwide chip card ICs, which includes secure memory chips and smart card microcontrollers. Growth in the company’s microcontroller shipments was particularly strong, as the company achieved market share leadership with 36 percent of unit volume, compared to its 28 percent share one year earlier.

“It is especially satisfying to achieve market share gains in both unit volume and percentage of revenue during a year of moderate demand and significant price decline in the chip card industry,” said Dr. Hermann Eul, chief executive officer of the Security & Chip Card ICs group at Infineon. “We attribute our success to the strong strategic relationships with our customers, which we have built by providing a broad product platform that allows rapid, efficient deployment of applications and helps our customers to achieve their strategic goals.”

“It is also gratifying to gain share in a number of key application categories for security microcontrollers, including Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for mobile hand which are, according to Dataquest, once again determining the overall revenues for silicon suppliers in 2001. We have strengthened our position at payment cards, which Dataquest named the key growth area for smart cards over the next few years, and in new identification card projects,” said Eul.

During the calendar year, Infineon’s chip card group began shipments for the largest card-based identification project in the United States, the Department of Defense Common Access Card. To address another fast growing market, the company also announced in 2001 its cooperation with Sony to develop dual interface (contact and contactless) microcontrollers supporting Sony’s FeLica system, which complements Infineon’s leading technology for high-end multifunction smart card controllers.

About Infineon


Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for applications in the wired and wireless communications markets, for security systems and smart cards, for the automotive and industrial sectors, as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 2001 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.67 billion with about 33,800 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.


Infineon and the stylized Infineon Technologies design are trademarks and servicemarks of Infineon Technologies AG. Any other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

Any statements in this document that are not statements of historical fact are "forward-looking" and therefore involve risks and uncertainties; actual results may differ from such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include uncertainties relating to the acceptance of Infineon’s integrated circuit product offerings, and other business factors and uncertainties that are discussed in the company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" section of its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended September 30, 2001. Infineon Technologies undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Information Number

INFCC200204.078e