Amid a two-quarter consecutive increase in global semiconductor company revenues, Nvidia and SK hynix have distinguished themselves, benefiting from the AI semiconductor windfall.
According to market research firm Omdia on Nov. 22, the global semiconductor market size in the third quarter (July-September) this year grew by 8.4% to US$139 billion compared to the previous quarter.
Global semiconductor revenue, after five consecutive quarters of decline since the fourth quarter of 2021, turned around in the first quarter of this year, marking growth for two consecutive quarters.
Recent growth in the semiconductor market is AI-driven, but an increase in demand is visible across the industry. Omdia reports that among the top 15 semiconductor revenue companies, 14 saw an increase in sales last quarter. Also, among the 126 companies globally tracked by Omdia, 63% (80 companies) reported increased revenues.
The memory segment, a stronghold for South Korean semiconductor companies, rebounded from a low in the first quarter. The memory segment’s revenue for the first quarter this year was US$19.3 billion, less than half compared to the previous year’s US$43.6 billion. However, it bounced back to US$24.5 billion in the last quarter, showing a rapid recovery.
Omdia stated, “The semiconductor industry’s growth is not solely due to AI demand,” explaining, “Growth has spread to other semiconductor sectors.”
Among computing companies, Nvidia and SK hynix, benefiting from AI semiconductor demand, saw double-digit sales growth compared to the previous quarter.
In particular, Nvidia has disrupted the duopoly of Intel and Samsung Electronics in the semiconductor industry, joining the frontline competition.
In the third quarter this year, while Intel maintained the top sales position with US$13.321 billion, Nvidia closely followed with US$11.966 billion. Nvidia’s third-quarter sales increased by 18.2% from the previous quarter and 157.8% from the previous year, jumping from 10th place last year to 3rd place in this year’s second quarter.
On the other hand, Samsung Electronics, which was second last year, recorded third-quarter sales of US$10.742 billion, an 8.8% increase from the previous quarter, but fell behind Nvidia. Qualcomm also dropped to fourth place with US$7.374 billion, down from third place last year.
SK hynix’s sales in the last quarter were US$6.720 billion, ranking them sixth. The company dropped two places from fourth last year. However, SK hynix reported a 25.7% increase in sales compared to the previous quarter, particularly leading in the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) sector.
Apple also climbed to eighth place with US$4.518 billion, a 23.8% increase from the previous quarter, influenced by the release of its latest smartphones.