Global Chip Sales Rose 7.9% in 2014

Global semiconductor sales rose 7.9% during 2014 as production of traditional personal computers rebounded and with memory chip makers leading the growth, according to preliminary data from tech research company Gartner Inc.

World-wide chip sales increased to $339.8 billion last year, with the 25 top semiconductor companies taking a bigger combined share of the market, at 72.1% of total revenue, up from 69.7% during 2013.

According to Gartner, Intel Corp. (INTC) maintained its top spot last year, with estimated revenue of $50.84 billion, up 4.6% from a year earlier, returning to growth after two years of declines. Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNHZ, 005930.SE) was No. 2, with estimated revenue of $35.28 billion, up 10%. The companies had market shares of 15% and 10.4%, respectively.

Meanwhile, revenue in the dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, market rose 31.7% during 2014 as undersupply and stable pricing continued, stated Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner.

"In contrast to 2013, which saw revenue decline in key device categories...all device categories saw positive growth in 2014, but none could match the growth of the memory market, which grew 16.9% in 2014," Mr. Norwood stated.

Excluding memory revenue, semiconductor sales rose 5.4%, an improvement from an increase of 0.8% a year earlier.

SK Hynix Inc. (HXSCF, 000660.SE) and Micron Technology Inc. (MU) benefited the most from the strong memory market, with the strongest growth of the top 10 vendors, according to Gartner.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

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