Last Year Semiconductor Sales Grew by Only 1.1%... Samsung Ranks No. 1 Worldwide

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Last year, global semiconductor sales grew by only 1.1%, with Samsung Electronics maintaining its position as the world's number one for the second consecutive year.

On the 18th, market research firm Gartner announced that global semiconductor sales last year increased by 1.1% to $601.694 billion. Andrew Norwood, a Gartner analyst, said, "In the second half of last year, inflation, interest rate hikes, rising energy costs, and continued COVID-19 lockdowns in China led to a slowdown in global economic growth." He added, "Demand for PCs and smartphones declined, and companies reduced spending in anticipation of a global economic recession, which impacted the entire semiconductor market," explaining the background for the slowdown in sales growth.

Samsung Electronics recorded sales of $65.585 billion last year, down 10.4% due to decreased memory semiconductor sales. Despite the double-digit decline in sales, Samsung maintained its number one position for the second consecutive year after pushing Intel to second place in 2021. Samsung's market share stands at 10.9%.

Intel's sales decline was larger at 19.5%. It recorded sales of $58.373 billion and a market share of 9.7%, remaining in second place as in the previous year. SK Hynix maintained third place with sales down 2.6% to $36.229 billion and a market share of 6%. Fabless semiconductor company Qualcomm rose from fifth to fourth place with sales increasing 28.3% to $34.748 billion. Meanwhile, Micron fell to fifth place with sales down 3.7% to $27.566 billion. The ranking excluded foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company TSMC, as the survey targeted integrated device manufacturers and fabless companies.

By sector, sales in the memory semiconductor segment, which accounted for 25% of total semiconductor sales last year, decreased by 10%. Most memory companies announced plans to reduce capital expenditures this year, reflecting deteriorated investment sentiment. Overall non-memory sales grew by 5.3% last year, with the automotive-related non-memory sector showing particularly strong growth.

Meanwhile, Gartner forecasts semiconductor sales this year to decline by 3.6% to $596 billion compared to the previous year. Gartner had initially expected global semiconductor sales to continue growing, reaching $595 billion in 2021, $618 billion in 2022, and $623 billion in 2023. However, due to worsening economic conditions and ongoing semiconductor oversupply, Gartner revised its forecast to a 3.6% decline in sales next year.

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