Samsung Elec returns to top in global chip sales last year, SK hynix third

Samsung Electronics has returned to the peak in the global chip industry last year upon beating Intel in sales, according to research firm Gartner.

The company’s revenue from memory chips amounted to $75.95 billion in 2021, up by 31.6 percent from $57.72 billion in 2020, to command 13 percent in global chip revenue.

It is the first time in three years since 2018 that Samsung ranked first in global semiconductor sales. The company first climbed to the top spot in 2018, but since then memory chip prices had slid, giving up market leadership to Intel.

Intel dropped to the No. 2 position with sales of $73.1 billion after adding 0.5 percent. SK hynix became a comfortable third with sales surging 40.5 percent on year to $36.32 billion.

[Source: Gartner]

Worldwide semiconductor sales increased 25.1 percent in 2021 to total $583.5 billion, crossing the $500 billion threshold for the first time, Gartner said. The increase was driven in growing demand in various fields such as the automobile industry and 5G smartphones.

“As the global economy bounced back in 2021, shortages appeared throughout the semiconductor supply chain, particularly in the automotive industry,” said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. “The resulting combination of strong demand as well as logistics and raw material price increases drove semiconductors’ average selling price higher.”

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