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2024

Top 10 Chip Developers by R&D Spending

At the end of 2024, Intel became the world's largest chip developer in terms of research and development (R&D) costs. The corporation spent $16.55 billion on the corresponding needs, which is 3.1% more than in 2023, the year such costs amounted to $16.05 billion. This is stated in a study by TechInsights, the results of which were published in early September 2025.

In second place in the ranking is Nvidia where R&D costs increased by 47% - from $8.51 billion in 2023 to $12.5 billion in 2024. This company is actively developing advanced GPU-based accelerators for artificial intelligence systems.

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Фото: Freepik

Samsung Electronics closes the top three: the South Korean manufacturer has recorded the largest increase in research and development costs among the 10 largest world companies - manufacturers of semiconductor products. Costs jumped from $5.55 billion to $9.51 billion, that is, by 71.3%.

In the fourth position in the ranking, it has, Broadcom in which R&D costs in 2024 increased by 54.6%, reaching $9.27 billion. Qualcomm holds the fifth position with $9.03 billion and an increase of 4.2% compared to 2023. The top ten chipmakers in R&D spending also include AMD $6.46 billion (plus 9.9% year-on-year TSMC), $6.36 billion (plus 8.8%), MediaTek $4.11 billion (plus 15%), Micron $3.5 billion (plus 11.8%) SK hynix and $3.33 billion (plus 32.7%).

In general, the listed companies in 2024 spent $80.61 billion on research and development work. A year earlier, total costs were estimated at $65.69 billion. Thus, an increase of 22.7% was noted^[1]

The 10 largest chip companies in the world in their factories

As of the end of 2024, Taiwan's TSMC led the ranking of the world's largest chip companies in its own plants by a huge margin from competitors. This is stated in the TrendForce review, published on March 10, 2025.

Analysts note that one of the main drivers of the semiconductor product market is the high demand for powerful servers for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications. In addition, flagship processors for smartphones and new generation products for personal computers are in demand. Against this background, the revenue of ten leading chip manufacturers in the fourth quarter of 2024 rose by 9.9% compared to the previous quarter, reaching $38.48 billion, which is a new record.

TSMC's share increased to 67.1% of the total market in question by the end of 2024. In second place is with Samsung a result of 8.1%, and closes the top three SMIC with 5.5%. In fourth position UMC is from 4.7%, the fifth line went GlobalFoundries from 4.6%. In addition, the rating includes: HuaHong Group (2.6%), (1%), Tower Semiconductor VIS (0.9%), Nexchip (0.9%) and PSMC (0.8%).

The study said that the ten listed companies accounted for about 96% of total revenue. TSMC recorded the most significant growth in quarterly terms: this is due to steady demand for AI products. The decision of the Chinese authorities to expand the subsidy program for buyers of consumer electronics and household appliances has a positive impact on the industry. At the same time, TrendForce analysts say, changes in trade policy in the United States may negatively affect the production volumes of semiconductor chips. In early March 2025, US President Donald Trump doubled duties on goods from China - from 10% to 20%.^[2]

The 10 largest chip developers in the world who do not have their own factories

At the end of 2024, the total income of the 10 largest chip developers in the world who do not have their own production facilities reached $249.8 billion. This is 49% more compared to 2023, when the figure was $167.6 billion. The key driver of the industry is artificial intelligence. This is stated in the TrendForce study, the results of which are presented on March 17, 2025.

The booming AI industry is driving growth in the semiconductor products sector as a whole. AI-based applications and services require tremendous computing power. Against this background, cloud providers and hyperscalers are actively purchasing high-performance ones servers equipped with expensive GPU-based accelerators (GPUs), as well as specialized accelerators. In addition, advanced storage systems PCIe SSDs () are purchased SSD. On the one hand, the observed trend leads to an increase in the revenue of companies engaged in the design of AI products. But, on the other hand, the development of high-performance AI chips requires huge investments, which creates high barriers to entry and strengthens the consolidation of the industry.

In 2024, Nvidia became the largest chip developer without its own production, whose GPU accelerators dominate the AI market. This company received revenue of $124.38 billion, which is 125% more than in the previous year, when the figure was $55.27 billion. At the same time, Nvidia's share in the market under consideration increased from 33% to 50% (among the ten largest companies). Analysts note that demand for Nvidia products has jumped sharply as cloud providers continue to expand their infrastructures, investing huge amounts of money in the construction of additional data centers.

In second place in the ranking is located, Qualcomm whose revenue rose by 13% year-on-year - from $30.91 billion to $34.86 billion. However, the share in the total market volume decreased from 18% to 14%. Qualcomm was able to increase sales thanks to growing demand for chips in the mobile and automotive segments. electronic engineers In addition, Qualcomm is developing chip directions for personal computers with AI and peripheral computing.

Closes the top three, Broadcom which also benefited from the rapid development of AI: the semiconductor division of the company received revenue of $30.64 billion, dollars which is 8% more on an annualized basis ($28.45 billion in 2023). AI chip revenue accounted for more than 30% of Broadcom's total semiconductor sales. But the company's share year-on-year shrank from 17% to 12%. The world's top ten chip developers who do not have their own factories also include:

4. AMD - $25.79 billion, 10% of the market;

5. MediaTek - $16.52 billion, 7% of the market;

6. Marvell Technology - $5.64 billion, 2% of the market;

7. Realtek - $3.53 billion, 1% of the market;

8. Novatek - $3.2 billion, 1% of the market;

9. Will Semiconductor - $3.05 billion, 1% of the market;

10. MPS - $2.21 billion, 1% of the market.

TrendForce highlights that in 2024, the top five semiconductor chip design companies accounted for more than 90% of total revenue among the market's top ten players. In 2025, analysts believe that large open source language models such as DeepSeek will help reduce the cost of implementing AI. In addition, it is expected to accelerate the transfer of AI computing loads from servers to personal devices and peripheral equipment.^[3]

2023

The leader among the world's largest companies that develop chips but do not produce them has changed: Nvidia bypassed Qualcomm

In 2023, the leader among the world's largest companies that develop chips but do not produce them was replaced. In first place in terms of revenue came out with an income Nvidia of $55.27 billion, which is 105% higher than in 2022. The company's share in this market grew from 18% to 33% over the year. Such data are provided in a study that TrendForce analytical agency released in mid-May 2024.

According to analysts, Nvidia is the leader in the global market for hardware accelerators for artificial intelligence systems, controlling about 80% on it. The boom around AI-technology contributed to the financial rise of the company. Nvidia's main product in this market is graphics. In processor H100 2024, the release of the H200 line is expected, which should additionally spur the growth of the company's revenues, experts say.

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Фото: TrendForce

Qualcomm is in second place in terms of revenue from chip sales among their developers who do not have their own production facilities at the end of 2023. In 2022, the American company was in the lead, but in 2023 its revenue decreased by 16%, and the market share - from 24% to 18%. This decline was the result of weak demand for mobile devices Internet and equipment of things. In addition, the fall in the volume of the Chinese market smartphones in 2023 to a 10-year low affected.

Under these conditions, Qualcomm decided to pay more attention to the more growing segments to which the company classifies car chips. The company predicts that by 2030, its revenue from vehicle chip sales will double from 2023.

Broadcom retained the third place in the list of the largest faceless chipmakers in 2023, which was able to increase market revenues by 7% while reducing its share from 18% to 17%. About 15% of Broadcom's revenue in the semiconductor industry comes from shipments of artificial intelligence solutions. Despite solid sales of wireless chips, Broadcom expects a near double-digit decline in new broadband and server storage connections in 2024.

Like Broadcom, AMD, MediaTek and Marvell retained market positions in 2023. At the same time, AMD and MediaTek revenue for the year decreased by 4% and 25%, respectively. Marvell's turnover sank 7%.

Like Qualcomm, the finances of Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek have been affected by falling demand from smartphone manufacturers. Among the main reasons for the reduction in revenue from the supplier of computer microprocessors and graphics solutions AMD, analysts called the decrease in the demand for PCs and the adjustment of inventory from partners.

In the top group, Realtek saw the biggest revenue decline (down 19% in 2023), sending it down from 7th to 8th overall. The decline was mainly due to a sharp reduction in PC supplies, the suspension of telecommunications tenders in China and the early write-off of stocks. However, after the devastation of warehouses, Realtek noted a slight improvement in the supply of chips for PC and cars in the first quarter of 2024, but a drop in shipments of solutions for network devices and household appliances remained.

According to TrendForce estimates, the total revenue of the 10 largest chip developers who do not have their own production sites in 2023 increased by 12% compared to 2022 and exceeded $168.64 billion. Given the improving situation in the semiconductor industry and the high interest in artificial intelligence from electronics manufacturers and software developers, TrendForce predicts further revenue growth in the industry.^[4]

TSMC Is the New Global Semiconductor Market Leader Considering Contract Manufacturing

At the end of 2023, TSMC became the largest supplier of semiconductor products on a global scale with revenue of $69.28 billion. A year earlier, this Taiwanese enterprise ranked second in the global ranking, and sales were higher - $75.85 billion. Thus, on an annualized basis, TSMC revenue decreased by about 9%, as stated in the TechInsights study, the results of which were released on April 17, 2024.

Analysts note that the global semiconductor industry in 2023 faced a number of difficulties due to the formed macroeconomic situation, high inflation and market uncertainties. The number of orders for the release of products in certain categories decreased due to the formation of inventory. In addition, memory chip manufacturers have faced a sharp decline. On the other hand, amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies, sales of GPU-based accelerators (GPUs), as well as specialized accelerators, have jumped. In such conditions, the largest operators of cloud platforms and data centers faced a shortage of AI solutions, and the deadlines for fulfilling orders for the supply of AI servers stretched for months. It is noted that in 2023, a stable sales volume was observed in the automotive segment, where the introduction of autopilot technologies continues.

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Фото: TechInsights

The TechInsights report said that the Top 25 largest suppliers of semiconductor products in 2023 included 13 companies headquartered in the United States. Three more enterprises are based in Europe, Japan and Taiwan; two in South Korea and one in China.

In the second position of the rating in 2023 is Intel, which showed revenue of $51.51 billion. A year earlier, this corporation occupied the third line with sales at $60.1 billion. Over the year, Intel's revenue decreased by about 14%. The South Korean Samsung closes the top three, which in 2022 was the leader: sales from the company decreased by 34% year-on-year - from $76.85 billion to $50.9 billion. Samsung's semiconductor business has been hit hard by a significant downturn in the memory segment.

The fourth line of the Top 25 ranking is occupied by Nvidia, which showed the most significant growth among all companies on the list - plus 102% on an annualized basis. If in 2022 the company's sales were estimated at $24.5 billion, then in 2023 they reached $49.62 billion. Nvidia won thanks to its accelerators for AI systems, such as powerful N100 generation Hopper cards, which are also used to teach large language models. Due to the huge demand, the delivery time of the N100 reached 52 weeks. The shortage of these products provoked delays in the shipment of AI equipment for data centers. However, by the end of 2023, the shortage of Nvidia GPU-based accelerators began to weaken.

Qualcomm closes the top five largest players in the global semiconductor market with sales of $30.91 billion against $36.72 billion a year earlier. This corresponds to a drop of about 16%. The top ten also included Broadcom, SK Hynix, AMD, Infineon Technologies and STMicroelectronics.

In general, the revenue of the ten leading suppliers of semiconductor products in 2023 amounted to approximately $364.46 billion, which is 7% less than the result of the previous year (approximately $391.03 billion). All 25 companies from the rating sold products worth about $524.55 billion: this is 9% less than in 2022, when sales were estimated at $578.01 billion.^[5]

The leader has changed in the global chip market: Intel bypassed Samsung

At the end of 2023, revenue from the production of semiconductor products on a global scale amounted to approximately $533.03 billion. This is 11.1% less than in 2022, when the volume of the industry was estimated at $599.56 billion. Such figures are provided in the Gartner report, published on January 16, 2024.

Analysts say 2023 has been a difficult year for the semiconductor industry. This is due to the difficult macroeconomic situation, a high level inflations and a reduction in the IT budgets of corporate customers. Memory chip revenue collapsed 37% in 2023, the most significant decline of any semiconductor product category. In particular, sales of RAM DRAM decreased by 38.5% compared to 2022 - to $48.4 billion, while NAND flash memory brought in $36.2 billion, which is 37.5% less on an annualized basis.

Smartphones, personal computers and servers - the three largest segments of DRAM and NAND - faced weaker-than-expected demand and excess inventory in sales channels, especially in the first half of 2023, says Joe Unsworth, vice president of analytics at Gartner.

In segments not related to memory chips, a drop in revenue was also recorded, but it turned out to be not so significant - at the level of 3%. One of the main drivers of the semiconductor product market in 2023 was artificial intelligence. Data center operators and cloud providers have actively purchased GPU-based accelerators and specialized accelerators to support resource-intensive AI workloads and handle large language models. In addition, the automotive sector (especially the electric vehicle segment), defense and aerospace industries showed good results in 2023.

In 2023, the leader changed in the global ranking of leading suppliers of semiconductor products: the South Korean company Samsung Electronics lost the palm to the American corporation. Intel At the end of 2023, Intel's revenue from the supply of semiconductor chips amounted to $48.66 billion, which corresponds to a share of 9.1%. For comparison: a year earlier, deliveries were estimated at $58.44 billion. Thus, on an annualized basis, a decline of 16.7% was recorded Samsung. is in second place with revenues of $39.91 billion and 7.5% of the global industry. Compared to 2022, sales from this company collapsed by 37.5%. Closes the top three, Qualcomm which received $29.02 billion - 5.4% in the total market volume. On an annualized basis, shipments of Qualcomm products decreased by 16.6%.

Revenue from the production of semiconductor products on a global scale amounted to approximately $533.03 billion

The top ten market players also included Broadcom (4.8%), Nvidia (4.5%), SK Hynix (4.3%), AMD (4.2%), STMicroelectronics (3.2%), Apple (3.2%) and Texas Instruments (3.1%). All other suppliers collectively occupied 50.7% of the industry. In the top ten, the most significant positive dynamics was demonstrated by Nvidia, whose sales in 2023 soared by 56.4% compared to 2022 - from $15.33 billion to $23.98 billion. This is due to the rapid growth in demand for AI accelerators. In addition, Broadcom and STMicroelectronics showed an increase - by 7.2% and 7.7%, respectively.

Gartner notes that in 2023, the total revenue of the 25 largest suppliers of semiconductor products amounted to 74.4% of total sales. For comparison: a year earlier, this value was 77.2%. Only 9 of the 25 largest market players in 2023 reported revenue growth. At the same time, 10 companies from this list had a double-digit decrease in income.^[6]

2021: Samsung Electronics bypasses Intel in semiconductor revenue

In the second quarter of 2021, Samsung Electronics overtook Intel as the largest chip manufacturer in terms of revenue and is expected to retain this title in the near future.

In April-June, a South Korean technology company received 22.74 trillion won, equivalent to $19.7 billion, as income from semiconductor production.

Intel's total revenue was $19.6 billion - or $18.5 billion after^[7] deduction^[8].

Intel has held the top spot in sales for much of the past Samsung three decades, trailing it in 2017 and 2018 as chip sales boomed.

2019

The largest chip developers without their factories - TrendForce

On March 17, 2020, the analytical company TrendForce released the results of a study in which it listed the largest chip developers who do not have their own production facilities. Such companies place orders for the mass production of semiconductors in third-party factories.

Broadcom, Qualcomm and Nvidia earned the most among faceless chipmakers in 2019, but the revenue of these companies decreased by 7%, 11.3% and 9.3%, respectively. At the same time, almost all other companies from the top 10 showed an increase.

The largest chip developers without their factories, TrendForce data

Due to the decline in the leading three, the 10 largest chipmakers recorded a combined decrease in market revenues by 4.1% to $68 billion.

Broadcom's revenue fell due to Washington's trade restrictions, experts said. Qualcomm has regressed due to increased competition from companies such as Huawei, MediaTek and Unisoc. Nvidia has seen a glut of graphics cards throughout the first three quarters, which has reduced revenue.

Taiwanese chipmakers MediaTek, Novatek and Realtek, by contrast, improved their results. Revenues of these companies in 2019 increased by 1%, 15% and 29.4%, respectively. 

The study notes that AMD has increased chip sales due to Intel's inability to effectively address the shortage of its processors. Driven by strong sales growth in the second half, AMD finished all of 2019 with 4 percent revenue growth. Intel is not in the ranking, since the corporation has its own production facilities.

The decline in 2019 was also experienced by Marvell, which suffered from the aggravation of the US-China trade conflict. Also, the vendor's performance worsened after the sale of the business for the release of solutions for. Wi-Fi

The largest companies in the semiconductor industry by revenue in 2019

The U.S. and China are worried about Taiwan and South Korea's lead in semiconductor manufacturing. The U.S. accounted for just 12% of semiconductor capacity in 2020, while Taiwan and South Korea combined provided 43%, according to a report released in September 2020 by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

Calculation data for 2020 dated September 2020

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The leader changed in the chip market: Intel returned to first place

Intel returned to first place in chip sales due to the fall of the memory segment, which is the main thing for the previous leader -. Samsung Electronics This was announced by analysts in mid-January 2020. Gartner

According to their estimates, the volume of the semiconductor industry in 2019 reached $418.3 billion, a decrease of 11.9% compared to 2018. Memory chip sales fell 31.5% to 26.7% in the total market.

Top 10 Chip Makers, 2019 Gartner Data

The demand for RAM decreased the most - by 37.5% in terms of revenue. An oversupply of supplies affected here, which began at the end of 2018 and continued in 2019.

The overproduction problem is caused by a drop in memory demand from hyperscale data center operators. This created too much stock in the OEM channel, it took the first half of the year to adjust them. Excessive stocks from DRAM memory manufacturers in the second half of 2019 led to lower prices, as a result of which the average cost of sales of such products in 2019 fell by 47.4%, said Andrew Norwood, vice president of research at Gartner.

Global sales of flash memory in 2019 decreased by 23.1% largely due to high product stocks from the manufacturer and partners at the end of 2018 and sluggish sales in the first half of 2019.

The NAND flash market began to stabilize in July 2019, helped by power outages in factories jointly owned by Kioxia and Western Digital. This problem served as a catalyst for chip stocks to be cleared by manufacturers and contributed to rising prices, which were then at very low levels.

Gartner expects the flash memory market recovery to continue in 2020 due to relatively small growth in shipments amid demand for solid state drives and 5Gsmartphones-.

Intel again became the world's largest chip manufacturer, taking 15.7% of the market at the end of 2019. Semiconductor revenues of the American corporation decreased by 0.7% due to weakening demand for server solutions, a continuing shortage of processors and the sale of their business to produce modems for. smartphones

Intel returned to first place in chip sales due to the fall of the memory segment, which is the main one for the previous leader - Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics, which lost about 30% of its revenue in 2019, finished second with a 12.5 percent share of the chip market. Like other memory manufacturers, Samsung has suffered from falling DRAM and NAND flash prices. The South Korean giant's revenue from memory chip sales, which accounted for 82% of Samsung's total semiconductor sales, decreased 34% in 2019.

An even more pronounced regression was registered with SK Hynix and Micron, which, together with Samsung, are among the three largest DRAM suppliers. Their annual revenue in the chip market collapsed by 38% and 32.6%, respectively.

The study said global analog chip sales declined 5.4% in 2019, while the optoelectronics segment added 2.4%. Demand for analog solutions fell due to weakness in the equipment markets where these chips are used. First of all, this applies to industrial and automotive equipment, as well as more widespread devices, such as microcontrollers and various logic. Optoelectronics has recorded the best performance of any segment thanks to the growing number of cameras in smartphones.

In 2020, we expect revenue in the semiconductor market to increase after clearing large inventories, driving up average prices, particularly in the memory sector, Andrew Norwood reported.[9]

The top three chipmakers in the world

In 2019, Intel will return to first place in chip sales on a global scale, recording semiconductor revenue of $69.83 billion, which is approximately the same as a year ago. This is evidenced by the data of analysts at IC Insights, released on November 18, 2019.

Samsung, which in 2018 led the chip market, in 2019 will reduce their sales by 29%, to $55.61 billion. As a result, the South Korean company will slide to second place in the ranking of the largest chipmakers. The top three will be closed by TSMC with revenues of $34.5 billion.

Top 15 companies with the largest turnover in the semiconductor market in 2019

Samsung's decline is due to falling memory demand, with sales of such chips expected to decline 34% in 2019. It was thanks to DRAM and NAND flash chips that the company ranked first in the semiconductor industry in 2017 and 2018, experts say.

The top 15 companies with the largest turnover in the semiconductor market in 2019 will include six companies from the United States, three from Europe, two each from South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. For all these 15 manufacturers, total chip sales will decrease by 15%, and the entire market will show a 13% decline.

Ranking of leading chipmakers by growth rate in 2019

The study said it would make Sony the biggest push in the ranking, which is set to climb four spots to 11th in 2019 thanks to strong sales of image sensors. By NXP contrast, it would lose two spots and sit at 14th with 6% lower sales.

Judging by the published data, the rating of leading chipmakers in 2019 will include one contract semiconductor manufacturer (TSMC) and four fabless companies that do not have their own capacities. If TSMC was excluded from the calculations, then the Chinese chip developer HiSilicon, controlled by Huawei, would be in 15th place.^[10]

2018

10 Largest Faceless Chip Developers - TrendForce

At the end of February 2019, the analytical company TrendForce published a study in which it named the largest chip developers who do not have their own production capacity.

Broadcom remained the leader among the so-called faceless chipmakers with revenue of $18.9 billion from chip sales. At the same time, the best dynamics in the top 10 was demonstrated by Nvidia and AMD, in which annual revenues increased by 28.4% and 23.3%, respectively. The researchers linked AMD's rise to sales of 7nm solutions.

The largest chip developers without their own production capacity, TrendForce data

The worst situation is with Qualcomm which semiconductor turnover fell by 3.9% due to weakening demand for mobile processors.

Although Qualcomm's strategy in 2018 was very forward-looking, the company's supply of phone chips decreased largely due to the loss of orders for LTE modems from Apple and the fact that Huawei began to use its own processors more.

The study said MediaTek continued to adjust its product portfolio and cost structure, allowing the company to substantially reduce the rate of decline in semiconductor revenue. In 2018, they decreased by 0.7%.

According to TrendForce estimates, the total revenue of Chinese factory-free chip developers amounted to about $37.4 billion, an increase of 23% compared to 2017. The largest chipmakers in this group were HiSilicon, Unisoc (Spreadtrum & RDA) and Beijing OmniVision Technologies, the annual revenue of each of which exceeded $1 billion.

Experts note that although China is trying to reduce dependence on semiconductor imports, in the segment of high-class chips, the Celestial Empire still relies on foreign suppliers. Analysts recommend that Chinese chipmakers step up R&D to improve the situation.^[11]

Top 5 suppliers according to Gartner

In January 2019, the analytical company Gartner released the results of a study of the global semiconductor market. In 2018, chip sales amounted to $476.7 billion, an increase of 13.4 % compared to 2017.

The largest segment of the market in question remains memory - it accounted for 34.8% of revenue in 2018, compared to 31% a year earlier.

The top 25 semiconductor manufacturers increased revenue in the market by 16.3% and took 79.3% of sales, while the remaining companies increased revenues by 3.6%.

There have been few changes in the top 10. Broadcom climbed from sixth to fifth in the ranking in 2018, while Qualcomm, conversely, dropped from fifth to sixth. Western Digital ranked eighth instead of ninth in 2017, and ST Microelectronics improved its position by two points, sitting in ninth place. You can learn more about the balance of power in the leading ten from the table below.

Biggest chipmakers by revenue, Gartner data

Gartner analyst Andrew Norwood says that in 2018, the memory chip segment continued to grow, which began a year earlier, but in general, the rise here slowed by half, which is explained by the transition to negative dynamics by the end of the year.

Memory sales have risen largely due to an increase in the average selling cost of DRAM solutions. In the category of flash memory, there was a noticeable decline caused by the cheapening of such products throughout the year due to an oversupply of supplies. However, the volume of the NAND flash segment still grew by 6.5% in 2018, which was facilitated by the growing distribution of solid state drives and an increase in content in smartphones.

The second largest semiconductor category is application-specific standard products (ASSP). Demand for them is growing due to the growth in sales of gaming video cards and markets for automotive applications and wired communications.^[12]

2017

Chinese chip developers grow fastest

China is strengthening its position in the development of integrated circuits (IC) faster than other countries. This is stated in a study published by the analytical company IC Insights on March 22, 2018.

According to experts, Chinese fabless companies in 2017 controlled about a tenth of the global revenue of faceless chipmakers that develop microcircuits but do not have their own production facilities. Over the past 7 years, the contribution of companies from the PRC to the total sales of the fabless industry has more than doubled: from 5% in 2010 to 11% in 2017, which is the largest increase among faceless chipmakers from all countries.

Share of different countries in the global revenue of fabless companies, data from IC Insights

The impressive progress of the PRC is also evidenced by the fact that the ranking of the 50 largest fabless companies in 2017 included 10 Chinese chipmakers instead of one in 2009. The leader of the Chinese fabless sector Tsinghua Unigroup last year received revenue of $2.1 billion, which allowed the company to become the ninth largest faceless chip maker in the world.

However, while China lags behind the leaders of the industry - the United States and Taiwan. American chip developers, which do not have their own semiconductor plants, in 2017 controlled 53% of the global sales of fabless companies, and Taiwanese accounted for 16% of revenue.

Chinese chipmakers in the ranking of the top 50 fabless companies, IC Insights

Experts note that in 2010, the presence of chipmakers from the United States reached 69%. The decline was due to the merger of Avago Technologies and Broadcom Corporation, which formed Broadcom Limited with headquarters in California and Singapore. The company plans to move all head offices to the United States, in which case America's share of the revenue of fabless companies will again increase to 69%. As for Taiwanese chipmakers, their market share has not changed since 2010.

Also, an analysis by IC Insights showed that European companies in 2017 controlled 2% of revenue in the market in question, and chip developers from Japan and Korea controlled less than 1%.^[13]

Intel lost first place in the market for the first time

In 2017, the volume of the global semiconductor industry grew by more than 22%, which was largely facilitated by the memory segment. For the first time in 25 years, the leader has changed in the market, according to the analytical company Gartner.

According to experts, in 2017, chip sales on a global scale reached $419.7 billion against $343.5 billion a year earlier. Memory chip sales, which accounted for about 31% of the market, jumped 64%. The main factor in the surge in the memory segment was the rise in prices caused by a shortage of products. For the first time in history, NAND flash solutions have risen in price in comparison with full years - by 17%. The cost of RAM increased by 44%.

Biggest chipmakers, Gartner data

Manufacturers could not take on this price increase, so it switched to consumer products: in 2017, all electronics, including personal computers and smartphones, rose in price.

The world's largest manufacturer of semiconductor products in 2017 became the first. Samsung Electronics The South Korean corporation was able to get ahead of the American one, which Intel had held the lead since 1992. Annual semiconductor Samsung revenue increased by more than half, while at Intel it increased by 6.7%. Intel has increased sales of hardware processors data centers by 6% thanks to large orders from cloud telecommunication and service providers.

Intel's sales of PC processors rose only 1.9%, but the average cost of computers began to rise again after several years of decline caused by the market transition from traditional desktops to multifunctional portable devices, the researchers note.

It is also worth noting the growth of semiconductor revenues of SK Hynix, Micron Technology and Western Digital in 2017 - by 79%, 78.1% and 120.2%, respectively.

Gartner vice president of research Andrew Norwood says that the balance of power among chipmakers, which took place in 2017, may not remain so for long, and "Samsung's leadership has a fragile foundation created from memory."^[14]

Possible change in market leader - for the first time in a quarter of a century

Analysts at IC Insights predict the first change of leader in the semiconductor industry since 1993. In a study published on November 20, experts report that in 2017, the global chip market will be led by South Korean giant Samsung instead of Intel.

In the first quarter of 2016, Intel outperformed Samsung in terms of semiconductor revenue by 40%, but less than a year later, in the second quarter of 2017, Samsung became number one for the first time in terms of chip sales.

Chip Samsung Exynos

The strengthening of the position of the South Korean vendor was facilitated by unprecedented growth in the segment of DRAM and NAND Flash memory chips. Thanks to these products, Samsung's semiconductor revenue in 2017 is expected to reach $65.6 billion, while Intel's annual result will be $4.6 billion less, within $61 billion.

Analysts have followed the dynamics of both vendors since 1993. A quarter of a century ago, Intel led the global chip market with a 9.2% share and $7.6 billion in revenue. By 2006, the processor giant had strengthened in first place: its share increased to 11.8%, and sales reached $31.6 billion. According to IC Insights, in 2017, Intel's market share will decrease and amount to 13.9% against 15.6% in 2016, when the corporation's revenue was measured at $57 billion.

Samsung, by contrast, will increase its market share from 12.1% in 2016 to 15% in 2017. For comparison, in 1993, the company's contribution to global semiconductor sales amounted to 3.8% or $3.1 billion, and in 2006 - 7.3% or $19.7 billion.

Top 10 largest semiconductor manufacturers in the world by sales volume

The analysis also shows that in 2017, 58.5% of the market will be under the control of the 10 largest chipmakers in terms of revenue. If the forecast is confirmed, this will be the best result of dozens of leading chipmakers since 1993.

Six companies from the top 10 in 2017 will earn at least $17 billion on the sale of chips, and only chip makers with annual revenue of at least $9.2 billion will be able to get into the top ten.^[15]

2011: IHS Semiconductor Market Player TOP-25

According to the latest IHS research of the semiconductor market, in 2011 Intel managed to increase its share by 2.5% and bring it to 15.6%. This is the highest figure in the last 10 years. The previous record of the corporation dates from 2001, then its share was 14.9%, in the last five years it ranged from 11.9% to 13.9%.

Dale Ford, head of research for the electronics and semiconductor markets at IHS, considers the increase in demand for microprocessors for PCs and NAND flash memory for consumer electronics devices and wireless products to be the reason for the emerging growth. The acquisition of Infineon, a wireless technology division responsible for manufacturing chips for mobile devices, had a positive impact on the increase in profitability indicators.

Shares of TOP-25 players in the semiconductor market at the end of 2011 (income of $ million). Source IHS iSuppli, March 2012.

All this allowed Intel to significantly increase its gap from Samsung Electronics (Samsung Electronics Rus), the second largest supplier of semiconductor components. Up to this point, the gap between the companies has gradually narrowed, Samsung's share has grown from 3.9% in 2000 to 9.2% in 2010. However, at the end of 2011, the profit of the South Korean manufacturer increased by only 0.6% against 20.6% for Intel, and the gap was again tangible.

Outstanding showed the growth of profitability managed to demonstrate Qualcomm and ON Semiconductor, the companies played into the hands of a number of successful acquisitions. In 2010, Qualcomm occupied only ninth place in the market - now it managed to immediately move to sixth with a share of 3.3%, which is slightly less than Renesas Electronics. ON Semiconductor a year ago was not at all one of the TOP-25 manufacturers of semiconductors, but now the company is in 18th place.

In general, the semiconductor market grew by 1.3% - this is slightly less than the preliminary estimate announced by IHS on December 1, 2011 at 1.9%.

Notes