BURLINGTON, VT – There are few surprises on the list of the largest 10 EMS companies published today by Manufacturing Market Insider.

As expected, the top five are Hon Hai (Foxconn), Flextronics, Jabil Circuit, Celestica and Sanmina-SCI.

In a press release, John Tuck, the analyst behind MMI, said sales of the Top 50 EMS providers for 2008 totaled $158.5 billion, a new high. Overall, the Top 50 revenue grew collectively by 7.7%, he said.

“You can spin this result two ways," Tuck said. "It shows the EMS industry can grow even during a recessionary period. But without the contribution of the largest provider, Hon Hai, Top 50 growth drops to 1.4%, an indication that the other 49 companies as a whole were unable to generate much growth last year.”

It is in the second five where Tuck's analysis gets dicey. MMI lists Elcoteq, New Kinpo Group (Cal-Comp Electronics), Venture and Benchmark Electronics in spots six through nine. But the company inexplicably lists publicly held Universal Scientific Industrial of Taiwan as No. 10, despite that company's own published figures indicating EMS sales of $490.4 million last year.

CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY's Top 50 List, published in February, lists Plexus as No. 10, with sales of $1.84 billion, and Universal as No. 24.

To make the MMI Top 50, providers needed a minimum of $209 million in sales for 2008, down $20 million from the year before, MMI said.