Samsung set to usurp Intel as king of the semiconductors

Samsung’s recovery is looking to be getting better and better, after one set of analysts predicted it will overtake Intel as the new top dog in the semiconductor industry.

According to new research from IC Insights, should Intel perform to the middle of the range outlined by the team for the quarter, Samsung would only have to improve sales by 7.5% to climb to the top of the table. It is still a massive ‘if’ at the moment, but numerous suppliers have tried to topple the dominance of Intel over the years with none succeeding; it could be quite a milestone in the rock and roll semiconductor space.

“Samsung’s big increase in sales has been driven by an amazing rise in DRAM and NAND flash average selling prices,” the team wrote on their blog.

“IC Insights expects that the tremendous gains in DRAM and NAND flash pricing experienced through 2016 and into the first quarter of 2017 will begin to cool in the second half of the year, but there remains solid upside potential to IC Insights’ current forecast of 39% growth for the 2017 DRAM market and 25% growth in the NAND flash market.”

Intel has been firmly set in number one position since the early 90s as it created a market dominance in the fast-growing PC market. While numerous competitors have trimmed the gap, none have succeeded in usurping the giant, however this could be set to change. Should memory chips maintain current pricing levels, there is every opportunity for Samsung to lead the charge. Both are heading towards $60 billion in 2017 semiconductor sales so it will be a tight race.

It would not be the first time Samsung have sprung up to steal the number one market share position in a segment, but let’s just hope this time the products are a little less volatile.