Samsung Electronics is set to reclaim its position as the world’s top semiconductor supplier for 2024, overtaking Intel, according to market research firm Gartner on Jan. 26. While this signals a comeback for Samsung, the rankings do not include Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturer).
After struggling with declining profitability in DRAM and NAND flash products, Samsung Electronics appears to have achieved a notable rebound in sales last year.
SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker after Samsung Electronics, is expected to climb to fourth place. The chipmaker benefited from its leadership position in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, which has been rapidly growing amid surging demand for artificial intelligence. HBM is a crucial component of generative AI systems.
Gartner estimated global semiconductor sales to have reached $626 billion last year, up 18.1% from $530 billion in 2023. The combined revenue of the world’s top 25 semiconductor providers is projected to have increased 21.1% last year, pushing up their collective market share in the global semiconductor market from 75.3% in 2023 to 77.2% in 2024.
While sales of high-performance chips such as HBM surged on the back of a global AI boom, demand for general-purpose chips faltered amid a broader semiconductor market slowdown. This has led to mixed fortunes for semiconductor companies.
Samsung Electronics is expected to regain the world’s top spot in semiconductor sales a year after losing it to Intel in 2023. Samsung’s semiconductor revenue for last year is estimated at $66.5 billion, up 62.5% from the previous year.
“Memory chip sales, which had declined for two consecutive years, rebounded significantly last year,” said Gartner. “Samsung is projected to have achieved a compound annual growth rate of 4.9% over the five years leading up to 2024.”
