In a miserable 2012 semiconductor market that will see revenue declines at seven of the world's Top 10 semiconductor suppliers, Qualcomm is standing out, with a double-digit increase in sales that will make it the world's third-largest chipmaker this year.

Qualcomm is set to end 2012 with a 27.2% growth in semiconductor revenues, said IHS. This represents the highest rate of growth of any Top 10 or even any Top 20 semiconductor supplier.

The nearly 30% increase in revenues will cause Qualcomm's share of the market to climb by a full percentage point to 4.3%. More significantly, it will allow Qualcomm to rise three positions and take third place in the global semiconductor business—the first time it has reached such an elevated rank.

"This year has been terrible for most semiconductor application markets—with the sole exception of the wireless segment, which is expected to generate robust revenue growth this year," said Dale Ford, senior director at IHS. "Consumers are continuing to buy more smartphones and media tablets, even as sales of other once-hot products like PCs and flat-panel TVs decelerate or decline. With its chips at the heart of countless cellphones, including Apple's marquee iPhone 5, Qualcomm has discovered an oasis of growth in the desert that is the semiconductor market in 2012."

Qualcomm's rise in the rankings is part of long-term trend that reflects the growing importance of the wireless market in the electronics supply chain.

"In 2010, Qualcomm placed only No. 9 among global semiconductor suppliers," Ford observed. "This six-rank ascent in two years represents the biggest increase of any major semiconductor supplier in recent history. With strong continuing growth expected in smartphone and tablet sales, Qualcomm is well positioned to benefit from the boost in wireless semiconductor revenue in the future."

After Qualcomm, the next best performance among the Top 20 suppliers is set to be posted by Sony, which will attain 20.1% growth in semiconductor revenues. Sony's performance stands in stark contrast to most other major Japanese semiconductor suppliers, whose revenues will collapse by double-digit rates in 2012.

"Sony's strong results are due to its leading position in the image sensor market, which is expected to grow by 19% in 2012, with the CMOS image sensor sector of the market seeing its revenue expand by 31.8%. Sony's image sensor revenues, which accounts for nearly 60% of its semiconductor takings, is expected to expand by 48%. Even more amazing, its CMOS image sensor revenues are forecast to more than double," Ford said.

Meanwhile, MediaTek will jump back into the Top 20 in 2012 after stumbling in 2011. On the strength of its 4.9% growth, MediaTek is projected to make the biggest increase among the Top 20 as it moves up four positions from No. 21 to No. 17.

Paradoxically, Rohm Semiconductor will jump into the Top 20 and move up the rankings by three positions to No.19, despite seeing its revenues fall by 3%. In addition, the strong performance delivered by both NXP and Nvidia will enable them to move up two positions in the rankings to No. 14 and 15, respectively.

With all the movement among the top suppliers, only one company is likely to drop out of the Top 20. Following a drop in revenues of 13%, Panasonic will slip to No. 21 in 2012.