Ho-yeong Nam, Gounee Yang

Global Economic News

SAMSUNG Electronics reclaimed the crown, overtaking Intel as top chip seller in 2021, according to a research firm.

Gartner, a market research firm, said that Samsung Electronics overtook Intel and topped the global semiconductor chip sales last year for the first time since 2018.

According to Gartner, Samsung Electronics’ chip sales increased by 31.6 percent year on year to US$75.95 billion last year, beating Intel, which posted US$73.1 billion in sales. The market share of Samsung Electronics was 13 percent and Intel was 12.5 percent.

Samsung Electronics ranked first in chip sales in 2018, but it had remained at the second position for two consecutive years since Intel gained the top spot in 2019.

Analysts say that Samsung Electronics regained its No.1 position due to the increasing demand for memory chips in the global market.

“Sales of memory chips have significantly increased as market demand jumped due to distance learning and work from home,” the Gartner report said.

Intel’s sales increased only 0.5 percent last year, showing the lowest growth rate among the top 25 global chip manufacturers.