Samsung Overtook Intel as Top Chip Seller in 2021 Thanks to Automotive, Smartphones

Samsung Overtook Intel as Top Chip Seller in 2021 Thanks to Automotive, Smartphones
People walk past the Samsung logo displayed on a glass door at the company's Seocho building in Seoul, South Korea on Oct. 28, 2021. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images)
Benzinga
4/16/2022
Updated:
4/16/2022

The global semiconductor revenue reached $595 billion in 2021, up 26.3 percent year-on-year, Gartner reports.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s chip business grew 28 percent Y/Y, while Intel Corp. lost 0.3 percent Y/Y.

Now, Samsung tops the list with $73.2 billion in revenue and a 12.3 percent market share, while Intel with $72.5 billion in revenue and a 12.2 percent share.

Within the top 10, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and MediaTek Inc. posted the most robust growth in 2021. AMD grew 68.6 percent Y/Y, and Mediatek rose 60.2 percent Y/Y.

The semiconductor chip crisis continues to bite original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), offset by the 5G smartphone ramp up, strong demand, and logistics/raw material price increases that drove semiconductor average selling prices (ASPs) higher.

The year 2021 saw strong demand return to the automotive and industrial markets compared to the weak, COVID-disrupted market in 2020.

The automotive market outperformed all other end markets, growing 34.9 percent Y/Y in 2021. Wireless communications, dominated by smartphones, grew 24.6 percent Y/Y.

Driven by DRAM, memory accounted for 27.9 percent of semiconductor sales in 2021 and posted 33.2 percent revenue growth Y/Y.

By Anusuya Lahiri
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