Samsung surpasses Intel to become the world's largest semiconductor supplier

Thanks to strong semiconductor memory (DRAM) sales, Samsung Electronics surpassed its rival Intel to become the world's number one chip vendor in the second quarter of this year.

According to the latest McClean Report released by market researcher IC Insights, chip sales totaled $20.29 billion in April-June, up 19% from the quarter before.

Samsung's sales were distributed as follows: $19.26 billion in integrated circuits (IC) sales and $1.03 billion in optoelectronic, sensor and discrete devices (OSD) sales.

The report said semiconductor sales from the top 10 firms grew 10% from the previous quarter to $95.5 billion in the second quarter, outpacing the overall industry average growth of 8%.

The IC Insights report said Samsung is likely to maintain its top spot in the third quarter with $22.3 billion in sales, ahead of Intel by $3.5 billion. This forecast is based on the continued demand that memory chips are enjoying.

Intel's second-quarter chip sales totaled $19.3 billion, up just 3% from the first quarter.

The IC Insights list includes six suppliers headquartered in the U.S., two in South Korea and two in Taiwan, as well as four nonchip companies (Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom and MediaTek) and one pure-play foundry (TSMC).

TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), which is a leading foundry, remained the third largest semiconductor supplier with sales of $13.31 billion, up 3% from a quarter earlier.

Source: icinsights

Cover: samsung