The worldwide semiconductor revenue totalled $US339.7 billion in 2016, a 1.5 per cent increase from 2015's revenue of $US334.8 billion, according to Gartner.
Additionally, the combined revenue of the top 25 vendors increased by 7.9 per cent when compared with 2015, accounting for 75.9 per cent of the market.
Intel remained in the top spot, marking 25 years as the number one semiconductor vendor, with 15.9 per cent market share.
Samsung Electronics came in second place for the 15th year, with 11.8 per cent of the market.
Meanwhile, Broadcom was the best performer in the top 25, climbing 11 places to reach the fifth position. This move follows Avago Technologies' acquisition of Broadcom Corporation in February 2016.
"After a poor start to the year, characterised by inventory burn-off, the second half of 2016 was fuelled by inventory replenishment and improved demand and pricing," Gartner senior research analyst, Adriana Blanco, said.
"Overall, semiconductor revenue for the second half of the year was much stronger than the first half, reflecting the strengthening memory market and continued inventory replenishment, as well as inventory build for both the iPhone 7 and the holiday season,” she added.
The market figures have been released as Toshiba is reportedly considering spinning off its semiconductor business unit in order to keep its head above water following a combination of multiple financial blows.
According to a report by the Nikkei financial daily, the Tokyo-based conglomerate is considering selling a partial stake of the proposed standalone chip business to California-based data storage company, Western Digital, with which it jointly operates a flash memory plant in Japan.
According to Gartner’s figures, the Japanese vendor ranked in eighth place in 2016, earning just over $US10 billion in revenue and accounting for three per cent market share.
