Worldwide semiconductor revenue grew 0.9 % from 2010, reaching $302 billion in 2011, according to a report.
The report from Gartner also said after a strong start to the year, worries about the strength of the macro-economy slowed equipment and semiconductor orders in 2011. “The industry did well in the early part of the year, in many cases entering the year with backlog from an exuberant 2010," said Stephan Ohr, semiconductor research director at Gartner.
Intel held the No. 1 position for the 20th consecutive year, and 2011 marks Intel's highest-ever market share at 16.9%. Its previous high was in 1998 when it commanded 16.3% of the market. Intel saw strong growth in the first half of the year as the PC market stocked up inventory in anticipation of a strong second half of the year.
Intel had a strong year for its server products Westmere and Nahelem. Intel’s revenue for 2011 includes the wireless business unit (BU) purchased from Infineon in the first quarter of the year, a transaction worth about $1.4 billion to Intel's revenue in 2011.
At No. 2, Samsung saw its revenue grow slightly above the industry average despite its exposure to the declining DRAM market. Samsung’s NAND business saw healthy revenue growth, but this was broadly in line with the overall NAND market growth.
Texas Instruments, in the No. 3 position, has arguably the strongest manufacturing capability in the analog semiconductor industry, a consequence of acquisitions made in 2010.