Runner-up Position

 

Samsung Electronics occupies the runner-up position in the global semiconductor market, while SK Hynix has become the top-ranked semiconductor company in China.

According to market research firm IC Insights on Jan. 27, Intel turned over US$51.3 billion last year, which placed the chipmaker in the top spot among global semiconductor suppliers. Samsung was in the runner-up position with US$37.2 billion in sales, followed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) with US$24.9 billion. Currently, the global semiconductor market is estimated at US$353.3 billion.

Intel saw its sales expand 6 percent year-on-year in 2014, whereas Samsung posted year-on-year growth of 8 percent in sales. TSMC reported a 25 percent year-on-year increase in sales, closely following the Korean tech giant.

The fourth and fifth spots were taken by Qualcomm and Micron Technology, respectively. SK Hynix posted 22 percent sales growth in memory chips, CPUs, and system semiconductors during the same period, which put the firm in sixth place. Global Foundries, which forged a partnership with Samsung in producing 14 nm FinFETs, ranked 14th. Sony was in 17th spot.

HiSilicon, which was in 23rd place, posted a 53 percent year-on-year growth in sales, showing the fastest growth. Spreadtrum (33 percent), Novatek (28 percent), and MediaTek (23 percent) also saw their sales increase by a great deal. A total of 25 U.S. firms ranked among the top 50 global semiconductor companies, making up the largest percentage of the market. Eight Chinese and Taiwanese firms were in the top 50 as well.

When it comes to sales of integrated circuits in China, SK Hynix turned over US$3.8 billion in 2014, which put the Korean chipmaker in the top position. Intel was in the runner-up spot with US$2.8 billion in sales, followed by SMIC with US$2 billion and HuaHong Grace Semiconductor with US$700 million.

Samsung, on the other hand, was unable to rank among top 10 semiconductor companies in China. SK Hynix has been operating its semiconductor facility in Wuxi from 2005. In terms of sales growth, HiSilicon became the top-ranked company in China with a 53 percent year-on-year increase. SK Hynix ranked 7th with 22 percent sales growth.

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