Semiconductor revenue rose 7.9 percent to $340.3 billion in 2014, said Gartner.
Intel, Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm are the top three semiconductor vendors in the world – based on their 2014 revenue.
Gartner said top 25 semiconductor vendors’ combined revenue increased 11.7 percent. Top 25 vendors accounted for 72.4 percent of total market revenue, up from 69.9 percent in 2013.
2014 saw all device categories post positive growth, unlike in 2013, when application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), discretes and microcomponents all declined.
The memory market was the best performer for the second year in a row, growing 16.6 percent, meaning the rest of the market only achieved 4.9 percent growth. As a group, DRAM vendors performed best, lifted by the booming DRAM market, which saw revenue increase 32 percent to $46.1 billion, surpassing the all-time high of $41.8 billion set in 1995.
Intel saw a return to growth after two years of revenue decline, as PC production recovered, with sales up 7.7 percent. The company retained the No. 1 market share position for the 23rd consecutive year by capturing 15.4 percent of the market, which was down slightly on the previous year.
editor@telecomlead.com
