Intel grabs record share of growing chip market

Computerworld - As global semiconductor revenue hit $306.8 billion in 2011, Intel grabbed its biggest bite of the chip market to date.

Worldwide semiconductor revenue rose $5.4 billion, or 1.8%, from 2010 to 2011, according to a report from Gartner on Tuesday.

And while a report of overall market growth should be good news for all chip makers in this economy, the news was especially good for Intel.

The world's largest chip maker recorded a 20.7% revenue gain and remained No. 1 in the semiconductor market for the 20th consecutive year.

Intel not only remained No. 1 in 2011, it also secured its biggest slice of market share ever: 16.5%, according to Gartner's report. The company's previous market-share record was 16.3% in 1998.

Samsung was No. 2, with an 8.9% share of the market. However, it didn't enjoy the kind of year-over-year gains that Intel did, recording a revenue increase of just 1% from 2010.

Toshiba had a 3.8% share of the global semiconductor market and held the No. 3 spot despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 4.8%. Texas Instruments also had market share of 3.8%. Renesas Electronics was fifth with 3.5%.

Qualcomm was No. 6, with a 3.3% share of the global market, according to Gartner, but it recorded the biggest revenue increase of any chip maker, as its sales rose 38.8% from 2010 to 2011.

Last month, Gartner had said that the semiconductor industry is on the brink of a rebound this year.

"The semiconductor industry is poised for a rebound starting in the second quarter of 2012," Gartner analyst Bryan Lewis said in a statement. "The inventory correction is expected to conclude this quarter, foundry utilization rates are bottoming, and the economic outlook is stabilizing."

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin or on Google+, or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her email address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

See more by Sharon Gaudin on Computerworld.com.

Read more about Processors in Computerworld's Processors Topic Center.