Sanken (who?) up 41% in voltage regulator market

I was perusing the June 2008 update to Gartner’s 2007 Analog Semiconductor Vendor Competitive Landscape, and was particularly interested in the rankings of the voltage regulator IC vendors. There were the usual suspects: TI, National, Maxim, Linear, and On Semi. But in 8^th place was Sanken, up 41% (!) in revenue from 2006, and, with 4% market share, on par with STMicro and Intersil, and a hair ahead of Fairchild. (This is just in the voltage regulator market.) Sanken is unusual among semiconductor companies in that it also makes power supplies, which may give it a leg up on understanding power regulation issues. So far, the combination seems to working great for Sanken.