Electronic chipmaker Intel has gained its highest-ever market share in the global semi- conductor

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business which grew by a per cent in 2011 over to 2010 to reach $ 302 billion from $ 299 billion, according to market research firm Gartner.

"Intel held the No. 1 position for the 20th consecutive year, and 2011 marks Intel's highest-ever market share at 16.9 per cent. Its previous high was in 1998 when it commanded 16.3 per cent of the market," Gartner report said.

The company grew 21.6 per cent during the year to gain estimated revenue of $ 51,052 million compared to $ 41,998 in 2010.

In terms of market share, Korean electronic giant Samsung Electronics followed Intel with 9.7 market share with growth of 3.7 per cent.

"The strongest growth came from Samsung's relationship with Apple, where it is supplying the A5 processor used in the iPhone 4s and iPad2 media tablet," the report said.

Semi-conductor company Texas Instruments stood at third position with four per cent market share with growth of 1.7 per cent.

Market share of companies such as Toshiba, Renesas Electronics, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics and Hynix Semiconductor remained around 3 per cent.

Riding on new communications technology wave of 4G and LTE, Qualcomm registered highest growth of 36 per cent.

Micron Technology and Broadcom gained market share of 2.5 and 2.3 respectively.

Overall industry saw strong start in the year but worries about the strength of the macro economy slowed equipment and semiconductor orders in 2011, the report said.

"The industry did well in the early part of the year, in many cases entering the year with backlog from an exuberant 2010," Semiconductor Research Director at Gartner Stephan Ohr said in the statement.

He added that uncertainty about the state of the macro economy set in at the midpoint of the year.

"Consumers held off purchases, and infrastructure expansion plans languished as governments resisted assuming more debt. Equipment inventories began to build as the year progressed, with resulting ripples throughout the semi-conductor industry," he said.