Global semiconductor revenue grew 2.6 percent in 2016: Gartner
Global semiconductor revenue grew by 2.6 percent during 2016 to reach a total of $343.5 billion, according to Gartner's Market Share Analysis: Semiconductors Worldwide 2016 report.
The figure was up from 2015's global revenue of $334.9 billion, due to strengthening demand and improved pricing in the second half of 2016. The figure was despite a weak start to the year, the research firm said.
"Worldwide semiconductor revenue growth was supported by increasing production in many electronic equipment segments, improving NAND flash memory pricing and relatively benign currency movements," said James Hines, research director at Gartner.
Intel kept the top semiconductor vendor spot from 2015, recording revenue of $54.09 billion for 2016, having year-on-year growth of 4.6 percent and equating to market share of 15.7 percent.
Top 10 semiconductor vendors globally by revenue for 2016.
Second-placed Samsung Electronics, which also remained in the same spot as last year, recording revenue of 40.1 billion, and year-on-year growth of 5.9 percent,
Qualcomm landed in third place with revenue of $15.4 billion, a drop of 4.1 percent; while SK Hynix recorded an even bigger decline of 10.2 percent, from $16.3 billion in 2015 to $14.7 billion in 2016.
The biggest growth in the top 25 was for California-based Broadcom, whose revenue jumped 191.1 percent year on year to reach $13.2 billion, up from $4.5 billion in 2015. The company moved 12 spots in the rankings over the year as a result, from 17th to fifth place.
Micron Technology, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, NXP, and Media Tek rounded out the rest of the top 10.
The top 25 semiconductor vendors' combined revenue increased by 10.5 percent over the year, although most of this was due to mergers and acquisitions, Gartner added, including Broadcom's acquisition by Avago in 2015.
"Combined revenue of the top 25 semiconductor vendors increased by 10.5 percent during 2016 and accounted for a 74.9 percent share, outperforming the rest of the market, which saw a 15.6 percent revenue decline," Hines added.
The firm predicts global semiconductor revenue to grow by 7.2 percent in 2017.
"The turnaround that started at the end of the second quarter of 2016 will continue to gain momentum, and we expect the improved conditions to carry through 2017," said Gartner's research vice president Ganesh Ramamoorthy.
The global semiconductor market totaled $340 billion for 2014, Gartner previously said.