InsideChips has released the latest results of its quarterly performance benchmarking for publicly held semiconductor companies for the Q3-2006 financial quarter. The financial metrics measured are revenues and net income for the current quarter, previous quarter and year-ago quarter.

The "STAR" ranking system looks at the financial performance of 136 chip makers and ranks them by percent gain in revenues for the current quarter compared to the previous quarter. From this pool, only those which were consistently profitable make it to the final InsideChips financial performance STAR category. Often, many semiconductor companies achieve good revenue gains but are not generating those sales profitably.

The InsideChips semiconductor financial performance STARs for Q3-2006 are:

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#    Company                       # STARS   President/CEO

1    Microchip Technology          3-STAR    Steve Sanghi
2    Supertex                      2-STAR    Henry Pao
3    Micrel                        2-STAR    Raymond Zinn
4    Diodes (acquired by APD Semi) 1-STAR    Keh-Shew Lu
5    Hittite Microwave             1-STAR    Stephen Daly
6    Techwell                      1-STAR    Hiro Kozato
7    NVIDIA                        1-STAR    Jen-Hsun Huang
8    SMART Modular Technologies    1-STAR    Iain MacKenzie
9    Altera                        1-STAR    John Daane
10   DSP Group                     1-STAR    Tal Simchony
11   STMicroelectronics            1-STAR    Carlo Bozotti
12   Actel                         1-STAR    John East
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Source: InsideChips.com

The number of "STARs" designated refers to the number of quarters in which the company was on the STAR list since InsideChips initiated the STAR rating system for chip companies (January 1, 2006). The rankings are sorted primarily by the number of STARs and, secondarily, by the percentage gain in revenues since the year-ago quarter.

InsideChips members have access to complete financial performance details of 136 public semiconductor firms including being able to download an Excel table of all chip companies measured.

About InsideChips:
Founded in 2000 as division of HTE Research, Inc., InsideChips is the Internet channel for semiconductor entrepreneurs and investors. The site's premium channels provide startup analysis, investment information, and resources for entrepreneurs and investors. The Industry Channel provides tracking and analysis of semiconductor and EDA startups. The Investment Channel provides financial performance metrics, IPO tracking, company reports, investment outlook reviews, daily semiconductor stock price winners/losers, and a semiconductor investment timer. The Resource Channel provides a wealth of files, presentations, and other resources for download for entrepreneurs and investors. For more information, please visit http://www.insidechips.com.

Media Contact:
InsideChips
Steve Szirom
(360) 676-2260
szirom@insidechips.com