ABSTRACT
The semiconductor industry is among the fastest growing of manufacturing industries, with an average annual growth rate of about 16 per cent since the late 1950s. European-based producers of semiconductors are mainly large, vertically integrated producers of electronics systems products. Samsung is the largest producer of semiconductors in Korea. It has made semiconductors since the mid-1970s, with capabilities in discrete devices, bipolar linear ics, and some other ics. A major dimension of behavior in the semiconductor industry is capital spending on plant and equipment. Semiconductor penetration of industrial and consumer applications first occurred when transistors and other discrete devices replaced electron tubes because of their greater reliability and declining prices. Delco supplies nearly half of the semiconductor devices consumed by General Motors, and it supplies them on a cost-competitive basis against open-market suppliers. Plessey specializes in semiconductor devices for telecommunications equipment. European end-use demand is relatively strong in telecommunications and other industrial-products applications.
