Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Declined 2.3 Percent in 2015, According to Final Results by Gartner

Slowing Demand for Key Applications and Currency Fluctuations Cause Turbulence in Semiconductor Market

STAMFORD, Conn. -- April 5, 2016 -- Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $334.8 billion in 2015, a 2.3 percent decline from 2014, according to final results by Gartner, Inc. The combined revenue of the top 25 semiconductor vendors fell by 0.5 percent during 2015. This was a better performance than the rest of the market, however, which saw a 6.9 percent revenue decline. The top 25 vendors accounted for 73.5 percent of the market, down slightly from 74 percent in 2014.

"The worldwide semiconductor market declined in 2015 as slowing demand for key applications combined with strong currency fluctuations to subdue the market," said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. "2015 saw a mixed performance by the different device categories, unlike 2014 when all categories posted positive growth. Nonoptical sensors performed best due to increased usage of fingerprint sensors in smartphones, while discretes saw the strongest decline due to a mix of weak demand and currency issues."

Intel retained the No. 1 market share position for the 24th consecutive year, capturing 15.4 percent of the worldwide market, despite experiencing a 1.2 percent revenue decline in 2015 (see Table 1). Infineon Technologies experienced the strongest growth among the top vendors, moving from No. 12 to the No. 9 position in 2015.

Table 1. Top 10 Semiconductor Vendors by Revenue, Worldwide, 2015 (Millions of Dollars)

Rank 2014	Rank 2015	Vendor	2014 Revenue	2015 Revenue	2014-2015 Growth (%)	2015 Market Share (%)
1	1	Intel	52,331	51,690	-1.2	15.4
2	2	Samsung Electronics	34,742	37,852	9.0	11.3
5	3	SK Hynix	15,997	16,374	2.4	4.9
3	4	Qualcomm	19,291	16,079	-16.7	4.8
4	5	Micron Technology	16,278	13,816	-15.1	4.1
6	6	Texas Instruments	11,538	11,533	0.0	3.4
7	7	Toshiba	10,665	9,162	-14,1	2.7
8	8	Broadcom	8,428	8,394	-0.4	2.5
12	9	Infineon Technologies	5,693	6,808	19.6	2.0
9	10	STMicroelectronics	7,376	6,800	-7.8	2.0
		Others	160,289	156,260	-2.5	46.9
		Total	342,628	334,768	-2.3	100

Source: Gartner (March 2016)

2015 saw record merger and acquisition (M&A) activity between major semiconductor vendors, including several acquisitions and disposals that had a material effect on semiconductor sales. Among the most significant deals was Intel's acquisition of Lantiq. Driven by Lantiq's broadband gateway and digital home capabilities, this acquisition helped Intel nearly double its wired ASSP business.

"2015 semiconductor revenue results are skewed by the large amount of M&A activity during the year," said Mr. Norwood. "If we adjust for this M&A activity by adding in revenue for 2015 and 2014 where necessary, then the performance is somewhat different: The top 25 vendors would have experienced a 1.7 percent revenue decline, and the rest of the market would have declined 3.9 percent."

Additional information is provided in the Gartner report "Market Share Analysis: Semiconductor Revenue, Worldwide, 2015."

About Gartner

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