“In recent years, with few exceptions, technology companies have appeared to be in a rut from which they couldn’t extricate themselves,” Arik Hesseldahl writes for BusinessWeek. “But there was faster growth to be found in the tech sector in 2006—hot, even heyday-like growth in certain places. You just had to know where to find it and how to grab it, as the 50 companies that made our ranking of the Tech Hot Growth firms show. Measured by sales growth, total return to shareholders, return on equity, and overall sales, the companies on the list make for an enlightening study of the new technology economy, circa 2006.”

“Apple Computer (AAPL), No. 2 on the Tech Hot Growth ranking, is the prime example of a company that has created its own opportunities. Its breakthrough innovation in digital music has made it an international icon and propelled sales up 39% over the past 12 months, to $19.3 billion. The company sold 39 million iPods in the 2006 fiscal year, as well as 5 million Macintosh computers,” Hesseldahl writes.

No. 1 on BusinessWeek’s list is Amkor Technology: Getting a computer chip from its original manufacturer to its final destination is a complicated process. Amkor handles some of the unglamorous but necessary—and costly—steps in the middle. When a silicon wafer the size of a dinner plate arrives from Intel at an Amkor plant, Amkor cuts the wafer into single chips, places it in a casing called a package, and essentially gets it ready for insertion on a PC motherboard. Then it tests the chip to make sure it’s working properly. Sales for the 12 months ended Sept. 30 surged 41%, to nearly $2.7 billion, with $165 million in profits.

Full article here.