The sales of semiconductors globally were reported down by 10.5% last year, according to the research company Gartner Inc. The first time revenue in the semiconductor industry was reported down by £18 billion (or $27 billion) to the previous year. This was the second yearly decline in a row in the revenue of chips worldwide. Gartner also said that the market share of three biggest semiconductor makers in the world was reported up in the year 2009.

Gartner said in its report that global semiconductor sales were reported of $228.4 billion, decreasing by 10.5% while in the year 2008 it was reported of $255.2 billion. The company said that the industry performed very well in the second half of the year. The company also said that the strong second half of 2009 signals for strong 2010 growth.

"After an unprecedented decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, sequential quarterly revenue growth for the industry overall was very strong in the last three quarters of 2009," said Gartner in the report.

Gartner said that the three biggest semiconductor makers in the world saw an increase in their market share in 2009. According to the report, Intel Corp. remained at the top with 14.6% market share. Samsung Electronics Co. and Toshiba Corp. were the second and third in the list with 7.7% and 4.2% market share respectively.