Global semiconductor revenues up 5.2% in 2013: Gartner

Global semiconductor revenues have risen by 5.2% to $315.4 billion this year because of increased demand for dynamic memory (DRAM) chips, research firm Gartner said today.

Worldwide semiconductor revenues stood at $299.9 billion last year.

"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," Gartner said in a statement.

"Memory, in particular DRAM, led this growth, not due to strong demand, but rather weak supply growth," it added.

The overall market faced a number of demand headwinds with PC production declining 9% and 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% growth, Gartner added.

Top 25 semiconductor vendors' combined revenue increased 6.2%, a significantly better performance than the rest of the market, whose revenue growth was 2.9%. This was, in part, due to the concentration of memory vendors, which saw significant growth in the top ranking, it said.