In the first half of this year, Samsung's sales in the global semiconductor market were 22% higher than Intel's, up from 1% a year ago, as demand for DRAM and NAND flash memory continued to grow, according to research firm IC Insights.
In the first quarter of 2017, Intel was still the largest semiconductor supplier in the world. In fact, since 1993, Intel has maintained the title of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer. But since the second quarter of last year and the whole 2017, Intel has been overtaken by Samsung.

IC Insights estimates that memory devices will account for 84% of Samsung's overall semiconductor sales this year, three percentage points higher than 81% in 2017 and 13 percentage points higher than 71% in the first half of 2016.
IC Insights also said Samsung's sales of non-memory semiconductors are expected to be only $13.5 billion this year, an 8% increase from $12.5 billion in 2007. Samsung's memory semiconductor sales, by contrast, are expected to reach $70 billion this year, up 31% from last year.

IC Insights also ranked the world's top 15 semiconductor manufacturers based on revenue in the first half of this year, followed by Samsung and Intel, SK Hynix third, TSMC fourth, and Meguiar fifth. The sixth to tenth ranks are Broadcom, Qualcomm, Toshiba, TI and Ying Weida (Nvidia).

In the first half of this year, sales of the 15 major semiconductor manufacturers increased by 24% over the same period last year. In contrast, the overall semiconductor market sales increased by more than 20% over the same period last year. (Li Ming)