Samsung Electronics will overtake Intel and become the largest semiconductor manufacturer over the course of the second quarter of 2017, according to a recent market analysis performed by IC Insights. In a release published on Monday, the research firm said that Intel’s 24-year dominance of the semiconductor market might soon come to an end if the demand for memory chips holds up or ends up increasing in Q2 2017. Being the largest manufacturer of memory chips on the planet, Samsung Electronics is in the perfect position to take advantage of the rising demand for such products as few companies can rival its manufacturing capacities, industry watchers believe.
IC Insights President Bill McClean echoed that sentiment by saying how Samsung Electronics has a realistic chance of displacing Intel provided that the prices — which are directly correlated to the demand — of memory chips don’t drop over the course of this quarter. The market research firm expects the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker to record approximately $14.4 billion in sales during the three-month period ending June 30, while Samsung’s performance might reach $14.6 billion in the same period, thus growing by more than four percentage points in comparison to Q2 2016. NAND flash and DRAM memory are expected to account for the majority of Samsung’s chip sales in the current period as the prices of these offerings are predicted to grow by 25 percent and 39 percentage points, respectively, IC Insights said. The new forecast is in line with Samsung’s recent performance as the company posted record profits in recent quarters due to the strong performance of its memory chip division.
While overtaking Intel during the second quarter of the year would be a historic achievement for Samsung, that milestone might even be overshadowed in the near future as the South Korean tech giant also has a chance of displacing the U.S. chipmaker in terms of annual sales, IC Insights predicted, noting how both companies are currently on course to post approximately $60 billion in chip sales in 2017. Other units of the Seoul-based firm are also expected to do well in 2017, industry watchers believe, adding how the recent release of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus will likely lead to record profits for Samsung’s mobile division.