EL SEGUNDO, CA – Total semiconductor shipments in Greater China—consisting of Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan—totaled $66.3 billion in 2006, up 11.8% from 2005, according to iSuppli Corp.

As predicted last year, semiconductors shipped to China/Hong Kong increased to about $44.8 billion, up 15.8% year-over-year, says the firm.

In 2006, semiconductor sales in Taiwan reached $21.5 billion, representing just 4.2% growth from 2005.

Intel Corp. was the leading semiconductor supplier in the Greater China market with shipment revenue of $8.4 billion. Texas Instruments Inc. ranked second with sales about half those of Intel; however, TI recorded 32.2% growth for the year.

Hynix became the third-leading semiconductor supplier in the region. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. took fourth place with a slight drop in Greater China shipments, according to iSuppli.

Meanwhile, NXP Semiconductors saw its revenue decline slightly because of its internal restructuring. STMicroelectronics and Toshiba Corp. each achieved about 10% growth. AMD Inc.’s dramatic rise was driven by the company’s acquisition of ATI Technologies. In comparison with previous years, Qualcomm Inc.’s growth rate lessened as its CDMA mobile communications business advanced at a slower pace, according to iSuppli.