Global semiconductor revenue grew 1.5% in 2016: Gartner

Worldwide semiconductor revenue stood at $339.7 billion in 2016, a 1.5 per cent increase from the 2015 revenue of $334.8 billion, market research firm Gartner said on Wednesday.

With a 15.9 per cent share, Intel remained the leader for the 25th consecutive year while Samsung Electronics stood second for the 15th year with 11.8 per cent of the market.

"After a poor start to the year, characterised by inventory burn-off, the second half of 2016 was fuelled by inventory replenishment and improved demand and pricing," said Adriana Blanco, Senior Research Analyst at Gartner.

The memory market in 2016 started with the DRAM and NAND markets in oversupply and price declining. By the middle of the year, both markets moved into undersupply and price increased strongly.

The NAND flash market, in particular, had a turbulent start in 2016, plagued by oversupply conditions, but deep shortages and increasing prices during the second half of 2016 spurred growth.

The top 25 semiconductor vendors' combined revenue increased by 7.9 per cent compared with 2015, and accounted for 75.9 per cent of the market, Gartner said.

--IANS

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