Global Dominance

Samsung, SK, Posco, LG, and Hyundai
Samsung, SK, Posco, LG, and Hyundai

 

Amid Chinese companies digging up the semiconductor industry in earnest, domestic semiconductor companies led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have expanded their global semiconductor market dominance this year.

According to semiconductor market research firm IC Insights on Dec. 13, Samsung Electronics ranked second in the global total semiconductor business rankings this year with interim sales of US$41.6 billion (49.15 trillion won), following Intel with US$50.3 billion (59.43 trillion won). Samsung Electronics took second place last year as well, following Intel, but the company closed the gap in sales from US$15.7 billion (18.55 trillion won) last year to US$8.7 billion (10.28 trillion won) this year. This is due to the fact that Intel saw a 2 percent decrease in sales this year, while Samsung showed a 10 percent increase in sales.

SK Hynix moved up a spot to third place with interim sales of US$16.9 billion (19.97 trillion won) this year. Until last year, U.S. chip maker Micron Technology pushed SK Hynix into fourth place. The company was followed by Texas Instruments, NXP-Freescale, Toshiba Corp., Infineon Technologies, ST Microelectronics and Sony Corp.

On the other hand, no Korean company was listed in the rankings of fabless semiconductor companies, which specialize in design and development without semiconductor production facilities. In the fabless semiconductor market, Qualcomm-CSR ranked first, while Avago Technologies-Broadcom Corp. came in second. Meanwhile, Avago Technologies, which spun off out of Hewlett Packard, is a Singapore-based developer, designer, and global supplier of semiconductor products that supplies wireless communications and data storage. The company acquired the U.S.-based Broadcom Corp. in May at US$37 billion (43.72 trillion won), the highest-ever figure in the semiconductor industry.

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