Infineon already has come very close to Freescale. In 2008, both companies had a market share of 9.1 percent in the global automotive chip market. The crisis however has affected Freescale's business more severely than Infineon's, states Semicast Research Principal Analyst Colin Barnden. Freescale has lost almost a whole percentage point while Infineon could benefit from the strong Europe. The other European automotive chip vendors STMicroelectronics, Bosch Group and NXP also benefitted from the currency exchange rate, with ST maintaining the number 3 position.

In contrast to its colleagues from Strategy Analytics which predicted a hefty 15 percent decline in market volume, Semicast expects the automotive to drop moderately by 5 percent to $19.1 billion during the current year. In 2008, the market had a volume of $20 billion. However, the approaches of the two market research firms are not compatible; each one counts the market with different metrics. For instance, Strategy Analytics seems to use the term "automotive" much more generous, calculating a total market volume of about $126 billion.

In any case, against the background of the current situation with ongoing short time working schemes across the board and US vendors GM and Chrysler in serious problems, a quick improvement of the market climate seems highly unlikely. A further fall in automotive semiconductor sales during the current year looks certain, Semicast writes. However, the chances look slightly better for Infineon than for Freescale.