Samsung Electronics kept its No. 2 spot in the global semiconductor sales ranking. According to market research firm IC Insights on January 27, Samsung Electronics chalked up US$37.2 billion semiconductor sales last year, up about 8 percent from $34.3 billion a year ago.
Intel was ranked No. 1 last year with its semiconductor sales estimated at $51.3 billion, up 6 percent from a year before. This ranking is based on the combined sales of memory chips (DRAM, NAND Flash, etc.), microprocessors, and system chips.
Taiwan’s foundry TSMC was positioned at No. 3 with computer chip sales of $24.9 billion. Among the world’s top-ten semiconductor companies, TSMC achieved the highest growth rate of 25 percent last year.
Following them were Qualcomm, Micron, Elpida, SK Hynix, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Broadcom, and ST Microelectronics.