The 8051/2 architecture was very popular in the Smartcard/cell phone SIM market. There were other contenders such as the Motorola HC08. There are other processors as well but PICs did not feature. The 8051/2 might therefor still be the overall micro volume leader.
?? Could have fooled me. New devices all the time. They're like roaches. Want a 100MIPS 8-bit processor with 12-bit ADC or an on-board
24-bit delta-sigma? Where's my PIC, dude?
Microchip should be able to carry their success in the low end (12-bit instruction core) and their concentration (only one supplier as opposed to a couple of dozen for the 8051 core) and their broad base (lots of small companies and developers) to their 18 series and maybe the dsPIC/24F, at least enough to make some good profits, but very high volume will probably remain elusive.
Microchip has been doing some interesting business in low-end "untested" parts for noncritical applications.
Atmel make one heck of a lot of AT89 flash 8051s. They are very popular in Asia.
I mostly see 6805 and 8051s in 8-bit processor smart cards.
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