TOKYO – Global sales of ICs rose 11.3% to $261.4 billion in 2006, driven by demand for DRAM memory chips and devices used in mobile phones, research firm Gartner said. Intel remained the market leader, with sales of $31.3 billion, good for a 12% share. However, the chipmaker’s revenue fell 9.5% year-over-year. Samsung Electronics expanded its share to 7.9% this year, as sales increased 12.4% to $20.6 billion. Said Jeremey Donovan, research director at Gartner, "Outside of DRAM, wireless semiconductor sales once again drove strong performance in the industry." Third place Texas Instruments’ sales jumped 17.4% to $11.9 billion, or 4.5% market share, Gartner said. Infineon Technologies jumped to fourth from seventh last year, growing 29% to $10.6 billion. Toshiba fell to fifth from fourth despite an increase in sales of 9.9%, to $9.9 billion.
 

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