Semiconductor sales up 5.2 per cent this year

Gartner announces growth figures for world semiconductor market

Revenue from the global semiconductor market has expanded 5.2 per cent to $315.4bn (£193bn) in 2013, Gartner has reported.

DRAM sales in particular are booming, according to Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner.

"After a weak start to 2013 due to excess inventory, revenue growth strengthened in the second and third quarters before levelling off in the fourth quarter. Memory, in particular DRAM, led this growth, not due to strong demand, but rather weak supply growth," he said.

"Outside of memory, the rest of the semiconductor market could only muster 0.4 per cent growth."

Norwood said the market as a whole faced various "demand headwinds" such as the nine per cent decline in PC production, and saturation of the premium smartphone market.

Mobile phone growth is tilting towards lower-priced, entry-level and mid-range models.

The top 25 semiconductor vendors' combined revenue increased 6.2 per cent, and the rest of the market only saw revenue growth of 2.9 per cent. Memory vendors are concentrated in the top ranks – part of the reason, he noted.

Leading manufacturer Intel recorded a 2.2 per cent revenue decline, despite strong datacentre and embedded systems group sales. Prices for tablets and smartphone offerings were also declining, he said.

Intel, which has led the market for 22 years, accounted for 15.2 per cent of the market in 2013, down from a 16.5 per cent peak in 2011.

Samsung remains in second place despite a disappointing performance, Norwood said, and Qualcomm third, with SK Hynix taking the number four spot and Micron rounding out the top five.