Intel once again the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer
According to the latest data from Gartner, Intel was the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer in 2023, the first time since the company lost the top spot to Samsung in 2021. However, Intel's sales did not increase, but fell by 16.7% to $48.7 billion, although Samsung recorded a more significant decline of 37.5% to $39.9 billion.
This is mainly due to weaker demand for DRAM and NAND, important segments for Samsung, but not nearly as significant for Intel. The rest of the semiconductor sector "only" shrank by 3% overall, which was mainly due to the growing demand for hardware for AI applications. Qualcomm remained in third place with turnover of $29 billion, while Broadcom rose to fourth place with growth of 7.2% to $25.6 billion. Nvidia is ahead of AMD with $22.3 billion thanks to 56.4% growth and $23.9 billion in sales.
Meanwhile, in an interview with CNBC, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger talked about the semiconductor market and confirmed, among other things, that a factory near Magdeburg will produce the world's most advanced chips when production starts. The EUR 30 billion factory, which will employ around 3000 people, will produce chips using the Intel 15A process, i.e. with a structure width of 1.5 nm.
A more detailed roadmap of the company's production plans will be officially revealed at the end of February. Whether 14A, 15A or 16A - Pat Gelsinger has at least reaffirmed that some of the world's most advanced chips will indeed be manufactured in Europe. Both Intel SoCs and chips from third-party suppliers are manufactured in Magdeburg.
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