Intel achieved its largest annual global market share in...

data. Intel’s overall semiconductor market share grew to 15.6 percent from 13.1 percent in 2010, the research company said. That was the highest share for Intel going back to at least 2001, when it reached 14.9 percent, IHS said. Intel’s share over the past five years ranged from 11.9 to 13.9 percent. Its 2011 growth was “spurred by soaring demand for its PC-oriented microprocessors,” and for NAND flash memory used in consumer and wireless products, said Dale Ford, IHS head of electronics and semiconductor research. The growth “helped it to stave off the rising challenge mounted by No. 2 semiconductor supplier” Samsung Electronics, which he said “had been whittling away at Intel’s lead in recent years.” The 20.6 percent rise in revenue that Intel saw in 2011 “outpaced every other semiconductor supplier” in the top 20 except for Qualcomm and ON Semiconductor, both of which also saw “high levels of growth based on a combination of organic expansion and key acquisitions,” IHS said. Until 2011, Samsung was “steadily closing the gap with Intel,” with its share of global semiconductor market revenue rising from 3.9 percent in 2000 to 9.2 percent in 2010, IHS said. Samsung’s 2011 revenue growth of 0.6 percent left its share unchanged at 9.2 percent. Texas Instruments inched up one to No. 3, with 4.5 percent share, switching places with Toshiba, with 4.1 percent. The total global semiconductor market grew 1.3 percent in 2011, down slightly from IHS’s preliminary estimate of 1.9 percent growth, it said. A 5.9 percent decline in Q4 from Q3 “pulled the full-year results down,” it said. Qualcomm’s 41.6 percent revenue growth boosted it to No. 6 in 2011, up from No. 9 in 2010. That surge gave Qualcomm 3.3 percent market share in 2011, putting it close behind No. 5 Renesas Electronics, with 3.4 percent share. ON Semiconductor also had a major jump in market position, to No. 18 from No. 26, the biggest climb in the rankings by a top-25 company, IHS said. Nichia made “great strides” in 2011, too, with growth in its LED business that IHS said “resulted in a growth increase of 34.1 percent and a move up” to No. 23. Underscoring “the weakness of the semiconductor market” last year, IHS said only 52.6 percent of the 302 chip suppliers it tracked reported that revenue increased. Micron Technology dipped one to No. 9, with 2.4 percent share. Advanced Micro Devices inched up one to No. 11, with 2.1 percent share. Sony also inched up one, to No. 13, with 1.6 percent share. Panasonic fell five to No. 20, with 1.1 percent share. Companies based in the Americas had the largest improvement in semiconductor revenues among all regions, at 7.5 percent growth. Revenue fell 7.2 percent for Japanese companies, due to impact from the 2011 earthquake, IHS said.