Intel expected to overtake Samsung as world's largest semiconductor supplier as memory sales plummet

IC Insights has published a brief introduction into its upcoming weighty report on the state of the integrated circuit industry. According to estimates made by the research firm, Intel is going to return to the top of the pile as the world’s largest chip vendor. Samsung had enjoyed the number one position in 2017 and 2018 but is now expected to drop to second place for 2019.

The change in positions is due to decline in sales for Samsung rather than a spectacular increase in sales for Intel. Although Intel is expected to enjoy a slight bump over the year, US$70.6 billion compared to 2018’s US$69.9 billion (1.0% change), it’s Samsung’s predicted -19.7% change that is the main cause here. In 2018, the Galaxy smartphone manufacturer achieved US$78.5 billion in sales; this is expected to drop to US$63.1 billion in 2019.

Samsung’s predicted fall has been attributed to the declining memory market. A lot of the company’s semiconductor revenue is based on its memory chip supply. A forecast 24% drop in the memory market for this year means that manufacturers that are heavily invested in the NAND and DRAM markets will suffer. SK Hynix, Micron, and Toshiba are also expected to witness considerable sales declines and drop down the semiconductor sales table as a result.