Samsung overtook Intel as the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer by revenue in the second half of 2021 of the industry, Omdia reported in its latest analysis. Intel managed to hold on to its top spot as the leader by revenue for the year overall.
Nearly 60% of companies in the sector experienced over 20% growth in their profits. And the sector’s overall growth last year reached 24.2%, the second highest growth rate ever recorded by Omdia who began tracking the metric in 2002.
The semiconductor industry as a whole was worth USD 586.8 billion in 2021: more than USD 100 billion more than in the next highest year on record, 2018 (USD 484.7 bn).
Intel maintains lead overall
While Intel had been in poll position in Q1 and Q2, Samsung overtook the Silicon Valley giant as the largest semiconductor company by revenue in the third quarter and held onto this position in the last quarter of the year. In Q4, the South Korean tech giant brought in USD 19.995 billion (EUR 18.10 bn) while Intel brought in USD 19.976 billion (EUR 18.07 bn).
Across the year as a whole, Intel retained the top spot with annual revenues of USD 76.6 bn (EUR 69.3 bn), a figure which represented 13% of the semiconductor market as a whole. Samsung finished the year with total revenues of USD 75.2 billion (EUR 68.03 bn), representing 12.8% the industry overall.
According to the report, the South Korean company managed to close the gap owing to the strong increase in the DRAM (up 42% in 2021) and NAND (up 23% in 2021) markets. Samsung is the market leader for both components.
Growth rates
The Omdia report also pointed out that Intel’s 2021 revenues were very close to those reported in 2020, in contrast to the other companies in the top ten who all experienced year-on-year revenue growth of over 15%. Indeed, Intel’s main revenue source, the MPU (microprocessors) market increased by just 11% in 2021, far lower than the overall industry growth level of 24.2%.
Cliff Leimbach, Senior Research Analyst for the semiconductor market at Omdia, noted that the highest ever recorded revenue growth rate was in 2010 (34.1%), but that this was a recovery year following the 10.9% decline in 2009 following the Great Recession.
‘YoY growth in 2021 is significant because the prior year was not a recovery year, but an above average year with 10.4% growth,’ Leimbach said.
‘Demand continues to be strong in the work-from-home era brought about by the global pandemic and supply tight for many components,’ said Craig Stice, Chief Semiconductor Industry Analyst at Omdia. ‘Supply shortages throughout the semiconductor landscape resulted in rising ASPs, which helped lift revenue. The resulting strong annual revenue was significantly above the historical average, 24.2% versus 6.8%.’
