Samsung Surpasses Intel to Become Top Semiconductor Manufacturer

Tom's Hardware reports: Based on revenue, Samsung Electronics has reclaimed the number one semiconductor manufacturer spot on the back of a strong Q2 2021, according to the latest IC Insight's The McClean Report, which investigates the state of the semiconductor industry in several areas.

The South Korean company achieved a 19 percent increase in overall IC sales compared to Q1 2021, bringing in a total of $20.29 billion in the April-June period alone... On the other hand, Intel achieved a smaller three percent QoQ (Quarter-over-Quarter) increase that resulted in a cool $19.3 billion in chip sales. For reference, AMD, which is generally considered to have a competitive CPU portfolio compared to Intel, brought in a comparatively measly $3.85 billion...

According to the present-day report, Samsung has achieved the top spot mainly due to ascending ASP (Average Sale Price) of NAND and DRAM, with the latter being a significant high-volume advantage over Intel, which doesn't produce RAM. Samsung had last been the top manufacturer back in Q3 2018 — again on the back of strong NAND and DRAM results in the midst of a market shortage.

Wait till Intel an anounces their next years sales

[iamnotx0r]

Intel always has a press release on how their next better *thing* is, compared to some companies shipping stuff. I am sure they will show that next years sales will surpass everyones.

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[chispito]

Intel always has a press release on how their next better *thing* is, compared to some companies shipping stuff. I am sure they will show that next years sales will surpass everyones.

You mean their forthcoming GPUs? To be fair, I think Intel has already come to the realization (perhaps rather too late) they need to reinvent themselves to recapture a semblance of their former glory.

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[DontBeAMoran]

Intel is the new HP.

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[timeOday]

Intel is trying to turn the ship and refocus on engineering. We'll see.

Re: Wait till Intel an anounces their next years s

[saloomy]

This article got me. I always though IBM was the leading manufacturer of semiconductor CPUs. I remember reading that while Intel shipped chips in the hundreds of millions for laptops, desktops, and servers, IBM shipped billions for everything from guided missiles to cars to microwave ovens. Wasnâ(TM)t the POWER chip in like literally everything from XBoxes and Playstations to 20 per Mercedes? Or was I understanding that wrong?

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[slashdot_commentator]

Your understanding was wrong.

1) If IBM was the semiconductor powerhouse you believe it was, they wouldn't look like an irrelevant footnote to the technology industry in 2021. IBM is a services (consulting) company that puts almost no investment into advancing manufacturing or technologies in a manner they can capitalize from the investment. Most important, what little tech investment they do is aimed towards government contracts, so its profits will be miniscule compared to the kind of profits taken in t

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[BAReFO0t]

Knowing you have to change, and being able to, are two very different things though.

The cost of the crisis alone may break them, even if they do everything right.
Maybe now they realize the value of being nice to others. (So you can ask them for help.) And hopefully they don't forget right after.

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[slashdot_commentator]

The cost of the crisis alone may break them, even if they do everything right.

Its actually the other way around. They have the money to throw it all around at playing catchup & eventually dominating its competitors. But if they make a strategic mistake now, which will affect their comeback in 2-4 years, Intel will be seriously fucked. I have no idea if the new CEO is capable of determining those decisions, or if Intel stockholders will allow the company to pursue a long term strategy.

Easy, if you are state-sponsored.

[BAReFO0t]

Granted, Intel is a bit of that too. But not like Samsung, which, in texts, might as well be replaced with "Korea".

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[hdyoung]

Yup. This. Ive got a soft spot for South Korea, and Id really like them to succeed in the long run. But to do this, they need to diversify beyond a half dozen family-controlled companies that are so important the founders are essentially above the law. Too many eggs in too few baskets.

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[backslashdot]

Oh yeah? How many American CEOs have gone to jail?

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[Tough Love]

State sponsored or not (it isn't) it still isn't easy. I suppose you just needed to vent.

Path most traveled.

[Ostracus]

Samsung had last been the top manufacturer back in Q3 2018 - again on the back of strong NAND and DRAM results in the midst of a market shortage.

With memory being easier to produce.

However, Intel still stands as the de-facto king of the hill of semiconductor-bound companies - Intel solidly commanded the top semiconductor manufacturers for a still unchallenged 23 years, from 1993 to 2016. It also still holds the crown for logic production.

Like I said.

Directors of creative innovation!

[presearch]

Intel needs to get Will.i.am, their Director of Creative Innovation on this and turn things around.
Maybe drop another $10 million to the guys at Orange County Choppers for some innovation.

Hynix

[backslashdot]

I had no idea Hynix now brings in $9 billion a quarter off memory sales. That's nearly 3 times what AMD brings in for its CPUs. I mean thinking about it, it makes sense, but damn.

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[Tough Love]

Hynix margin is slimmer.

Re: Hynix

[backslashdot]

According to Hynix financial report filings, their profit margin is over 50%, while AMD makes about 20% profit.

Business is growing for Samsung

[windowdealership]

Wow! Samsung must have done some great marketing and you can often see their ads on Google, Youtube, etc. And they try to do something extra with the ads, which makes it more interesting!