Gartner estimates worldwide chip sales at $300 billion for 2012, and IHS iSuppli puts the number at $304 billion. Both firms agree that worldwide semiconductor sales were down more than 2% last year, with sales falling at most of the major chip companies.
IHS iSuppli said that only eight chipmakers on its list reported sales increases: Samsung, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Sony, NXP, NVidia, MediaTek and LSI. Most of these companies make chips for mobile devices.
See below for an overview of Gartner’s report and an overview of the top five semiconductor companies.