Narrowed Gap
Samsung Electronics retained the No. 2 position in the global semiconductor market for the second consecutive year in 2013, while narrowing the gap with Intel.
According to data compiled by IHS iSuppli on March 23, Samsung’s semiconductor sales rose 8.2 percent year-on-year to US$33.82 billion last year, with its global market share increasing to 10.6 percent from 10.3 percent.
In contrast, Intel’s sales fell 0.9 percent year-on-year to US$46.98 billion last year, with its market share dropping to 14.8 percent from 15.6 percent.
Consequently, the market share gap narrowed down to 4.2 percentage points in 2013 from 5.3 percentage points in 2012.
IHS iSuppli said the narrowed gap resulted from a surge in Samsung’s sales of chips due to the expanding smartphone market, while sales of Intel’s chips was slow, mainly due to the stagnating personal computer market.
Another Korean chipmaker SK Hynix recorded sales of US$12.81 billion last year, up 42.8 percent from a year ago, with its global market share rising to 4 percent from 3 percent.
Last year’s global chip market reached US$318.15 billion, up 5 percent from the previous year.
In the memory chip market, Samsung retained its top position last year, with sales rising 15.7 percent year-on-year to US$21.67 billion. Its market share, however, fell to 33.1 percent from 35.4 percent.
SK Hynix ranked third with a 19.1 percent market share, following the second-ranked Micron Technology with a 21.6 percent market share.