Samsung Electronics Lost Semiconductor No.1 Position to 'Intel' Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Last year, Samsung Electronics lost its position as the world's top semiconductor company in sales to the US-based Intel due to the downturn in the memory semiconductor market.

According to market research firm Gartner on the 19th, Samsung Electronics recorded total semiconductor sales of $51.291 billion last year, a 29.2% decrease compared to the previous year. Its market share based on sales was 12.5% last year.

Meanwhile, Intel recorded sales of $67.754 billion last year, achieving a market share of 16.2%. Its sales increased by 2.2% compared to the previous year. As a result, Samsung Electronics lost the top spot in the semiconductor market to Intel after holding it since 2017 for two years.

SK Hynix's sales last year amounted to $22.297 billion, a sharp decline of 38.5% compared to 2018. Its sales ranking remained third last year. The fourth place was held by the US company Micron, which recorded sales of $20.254 billion, down 31.9% from the previous year.

Due to the decline in memory semiconductor prices, companies specializing in memory semiconductors such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron saw significant decreases in sales. Gartner explained, "The overall memory market shrank by 32.7% compared to the previous year due to oversupply in the DRAM market."

Global semiconductor sales last year totaled $419.148 billion, down 12% from 2018. Sales are expected to decline again this year due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Gartner forecasted that the semiconductor market will decrease by 0.9% this year compared to last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.