Samsung knocks Intel off top spot in global semiconductor sales

According to recent industry figures, Samsung has displaced Intel as the world’s largest semiconductor supplier in Q2 2021.

The Register reports that the latest rankings from semiconductor-centric analyst firm IC Insights show a healthy 10% increase in sales helped the South Korean company sail past Intel to the top spot.

And it wasn’t just Samsung that saw increased sales. Reportedly, the semiconductor industry as a whole experienced eight per cent growth, with the top ten semiconductor suppliers raking in sales of over $95.5 billion in Q2 2021.

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Intel meanwhile slips down to the second place ahead of TSMC at third place. SK Hynix, and Micron round up the top five, with both registering significant sales increases in Q2 as compared to Q1.

Memory magic

According to the insights, Samsung was helped by a 19% increase in sales of DRAM and flash memory, something which has helped the company in the past as well.

Besides the movement at the top, IC Insights shows that other participants in the top ten list have also experienced significant growth in Q2.

For instance, Nvidia saw its sales increase 14% compared to Q1 2021 mostly due to demand for its data center and gaming inventory. Similarly, Mediatek also increased its sales in Q2 by 17% riding on the sales of 5G smartphones and consumer multimedia products. AMD meanwhile narrowly missed the top ten, despite a 12% increase in sales in Q2 2021.

IC Insights believes that the semiconductor sales will continue to rise, predicting an overall increase of 23% in the world semiconductor market for 2021.

The collective sales boost is in stark contrast to the apparent semiconductor shortage, which has been highlighted by virtually all of the semiconductor suppliers since last year, including Intel, as a major factor that will hit their bottom lines.