The global semiconductor revenues totalled $315.4 billion in 2013, a 5.2 per cent increase from 2012 revenue of $299.9 billion, according to preliminary results by Gartner.
The top 25 semiconductor vendors’ combined revenue increased 6.2 per cent, posting a significantly better performance than the rest of the market, whose revenue growth was 2.9 per cent. This was, in part, due to the concentration of memory vendors, which saw significant growth in the top ranking.
“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,’’ said Andrew Norwood, Research Vice-President at Gartner.
DRAM or Dynamic Random-Access Memory is a type of random-access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit.
“In fact, the overall market faced a number of demand headwinds with personal computer production declining 9 per cent and the premium smartphone market showing signs of saturation, with growth tilting toward lower-priced, entry-level and midrange smartphone models. These demand headwinds become very visible when looking at revenue growth outside of memory, where the rest of the semiconductor market could only muster 0.4 per cent growth,’’ he added.
Decline in Intel revenues
Intel recorded a 2.2 per cent revenue decline as strong performance in its data centre and embedded systems group was not enough to offset a declining PC market, and limited traction and declining prices for its tablet and smartphone solutions.
However, the company maintained the number one market share position for the 22nd consecutive year, capturing 15.2 per cent of the 2013 semiconductor market, down slightly from its peak of 16.5 per cent in 2011.
Memory vendors
As a group, memory vendors outperformed the rest of the semiconductor industry.
“Within the memory market, DRAM was in the midst of a strong rebound following two years of revenue decline; the recovery started at the end of 2012 when the market was moving back into an undersupply due to lack of new capacity resulting in commodity DRAM pricing more than doubling during the year,’’ said Norwood.