Intel Corp still rules supreme in the semiconductor world, according to research carried out by Dataquest, the market research arm of Gartner Group Inc. Intel maintained its position at the top in 1997, as did second placed NEC Corp and third placed Motorola Inc. Intel’s chip revenues turned in $21.08bn up 18.6% on the previous twelve months. NEC managed a 2.2% growth to $10.66bn, while Motorola produced only a 0.5% growth spurt to $8.12bn. Texas Instruments Inc saw an 8.4% growth rate and moved to four in the ratings from six, swapping places with Hitachi Ltd, which saw sales fall 19.2% to $6.52bn. Dataquest estimates the worldwide semiconductor market will have grown 5.5% last year totaling some $150bn.
